Members of the North East Area had the opportunity to visit one of Network Rail’s modern training facilities, the Workforce Development Centre (WDC), located within the Rail Operating Centre in York.

The WDC offers a broad range of training opportunities for Network Rail employees, and is an important asset in their employee development portfolio.

The visit began with a tour of the infrastructure training facility which included a full track layout, signals and level crossing, all of which are connected with the appropriate control equipment, allowing trainees to undertake full maintenance training. The whole area is operated under full PPE requirements, adding to the realism of the facility, when combined with the option to make the training hall fully dark, it provides a perfect, and safe, training environment.

The tour then continued to the signaler training facility, which houses the complete range of signaling training, from the traditional lever frame through to the latest Integrated Electronic Control Centre signaling panels. The tour focused on the lever frame, which is a fully interlocked frame and working train indicator panel, with scenarios being created by the instructor to put students through their paces in a totally safe environment. Our two tour guides were passionate about their training and used a good sense of humour to help our members understand a very serious subject.

There was an opportunity for questions to be asked at all times during the tour and a practical visit was fantastic in helping members gain a valuable insight into the roles performed by Network Rail colleagues. Everyone present felt that this was a most informative and enjoyable visit and on behalf of the North East Council. I would like to sincerely thank our hosts for facilitating the visit.

Jason Wade
Area Chair