Earlier this week, West Midlands Mayor, Andy Street, officially opened a new rail training academy which aims to provide training and job opportunities in the railway industry for the region’s residents.

The launch took place at the new facility’s site at the Black Country Innovative Manufacturing Organisation (BCIMO)’s Very Light Rail National Innovation Centre in Dudley.

The City of Wolverhampton College and National Infrastructure Solutions (NIS) have worked together to develop the facility, which is called TRIA: the Transport, Rail and Infrastructure Academy (TRIA). NIS and the College have been collaborating for the last five years.

The training centre will teach people entry-level and advanced skills, which will enable them to work in sustainable jobs, and will meet the demand for skilled operatives to work in building and maintaining railway lines, tram routes and stations.

The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) is spending £1.1m on creating 432 training places at TRIA’s Dudley site, and private sector employers have also put money in, knowing that the facility will deliver skilled workers to them.

TRIA already runs a rail training site at the City of Wolverhampton College’s Wellington Road campus in Bilston. This site contains more than forty metres of railway track.

It was the first UK learning facility to offer training on slab track technology, which involves using slabs in place of ballast in track beds, and is being used in the construction of high-speed rail lines.

TRIA plans to open another site in Aston, Birmingham, later this year.

The new site at Dudley has more than two thousand metres of conventional rail track, two split-level platforms, an 870m-long tunnel and signalling components. These facilities will allow students to have hands-on training in multiple railway disciplines, using the same equipment as used on rail construction sites.

Davie Carns, managing director of National Infrastructure Solutions, continued: “Our partnership with City of Wolverhampton College and the WMCA is now in its fifth year and, by working together, we have delivered training that has created sustainable employment for more than 2000 people.

“TRIA is the next step in the relationship and will give us the framework to provide specialist courses across multiple locations in the West Midlands, encouraging greater employer engagement and the potential for more jobs.

“The Black Country Signalling Academy at BCIMO is another example of how we are listening to businesses and developing training for more technical roles that are currently in high demand.

“Our first six months in Dudley have been a resounding success with 500 students trained already. This is just the start.”

Malcolm Cowgill, principal of City of Wolverhampton College, added his support: “The economic climate at the moment means we need to support local people into jobs.

“Working in partnership with our training provider NIS, the academy will offer employer-led training to address skills gaps in specific areas, focussing on getting entry-level candidates into work, upskilling existing operatives and ensuring that the workforce is equipped with the latest industry-recognised qualifications and accreditations to ensure sustainable skilled employment now and in the future.”

The Mayor, who also cut the ribbon on a state-of-the-art new Signalling Academy, said, “Hundreds of millions of pounds are being invested right now into the region’s train and tram network, with new rail lines and stations being built and new Metro routes under construction.

“That’s great news for the travelling public but we also need to make sure this unprecedented investment benefits local people in terms of new jobs and careers. That’s why the WMCA is helping to fund this state-of-the-art training academy and matching skills courses to the needs of our regional economy.

“I can’t wait to see local people land good quality jobs in the rail industry as a direct result of this latest investment, further cementing the role of the West Midlands as the training hub of the UK.”