Level 3 Rail Infrastructure Operations Apprenticeship

Entry Requirement

You’ll need to have at least English and Maths at grades 9-4, and must be aged 18 or older by the start of the programme to apply. This is to make sure we follow health & safety requirements and regulations around shift patterns and working at night for under-18s. There is no upper age limit for the programme.

Apprenticeships

Level 3 Rail Infrastructure Operations Apprenticeship

During our 18-month Rail Infrastructure Operator Apprenticeship, you will learn all about what it takes to deliver the operational railway we know today, including capacity planning, control, electrical control, incident response, signalling, and stations. You will explore our relationships with train and freight companies, the British Transport Police, and the emergency services to understand what goes into delivering a good experience.

If providing a great service matters to you.
You matter to us.

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Level 3 Rail Infrastructure Operations Apprenticeship

We have a large list of locations which can change every year. Please check back once applications are open to find out where you can apply. You can register your interest to be notified when applications open for this programme.

Start date: We recruit several times throughout the year, so register your interest to be the first to know when we open new opportunities.

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What you’ll be doing

You will experience on-the-job learning, formal training, experiences, and placements in operational locations across our operations business, gaining a perspective of the challenges we all face as we work together to deliver the very best customer experiences.

You will complete an introduction to people management and leadership skills, including modules such as leadership style, communications, managing yourself, and challenge and decision making.

You’ll also gain an appreciation of incident response and attend Signaller training as part of the scheme to give you a grounding in railway operational rules and principles. This will be delivered in modules of four-weeks at our training centre in York.

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Who you are matters

You’ll need to have at least English and Maths at grades 9-4, and the flexibility to travel to training and placement locations. This may require you to stay in a hotel or similar for the working week.

Our railway runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and at times you will be working weekends, bank holidays, and shifts, so you will need a degree of flexibility. You will also be happy travelling and staying away from home for periods of time for work.

You must also be willing to embrace the responsibility that safety-critical work brings, and that placements may be subject to some change as a result of operational considerations.

We look for logical thinkers who enjoy finding creative solutions to challenging problems. You should be resourceful, hardworking, good at managing your time and motivating yourself to get the job done. Other qualities we are looking for are:

  • Great communication
  • Ability to engage with people at all levels
  • Good relationship building

Due to the nature of the railway environment we operate certain safety checks when joining, as part of this we require all candidates to be 18 years old.

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What you’ll get out of it

You’ll study for the Level 3 Apprenticeship in Rail Infrastructure Operations over the course of the scheme. The Apprenticeship will teach you about the whole rail system and how different roles work together to ensure a safe service. It offers a great starting point for your career in rail operations, and will give you practical hands-on experience and a strong industry knowledge.

Previous apprentices have gone on to frontline management roles across operations, including Shift Station Management, Trainee Operations Management, Seasonal Delivery, Level Crossing Management, and Operations Interface Specialist.

We matter to millions. You could too.