The graduates will join a team of hundreds of rail industry colleagues working throughout the North of England in areas such as customer service, engineering, operations and planning.

Northern‘s regional director, Tony Baxter was on hand at Leeds station to congratulate three of the new graduates, Janine Bell, Dan Cooper and Katy Bailey.

Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, said:

“Our apprenticeship scheme really is one of the best ways to kick-start your career in the rail industry.

“We offer a wide range of opportunities for people of all ages and experiences – whether they’re straight out of full-time education or mid-career and want to try something completely new.

“Northern is a great place to work and we want to represent every one of the different communities we serve – and our apprenticeships play a vital part in helping us realise that goal.”

As the largest provider of apprenticeships in the rail industry, Northern has around 600 apprentices working throughout its organisation. Recruitment of apprentices takes place right through the year with over 30 vacancies currently available.

To find out more about working with Northern as an apprentice, please visit: http://www.northernrailway.co.uk/careers

Northern’s apprentices spend two days out of each month at college alongside their on-the-job training.

The apprentices also work as a team on standalone projects which aim to improve one of the stations on Northern’s network.