UK: ‘Open access operators like these will play a role in the future of our railways under Labour, making the most of network capacity and ensuring passengers have the best possible service and that communities are served with the railways they deserve’, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said when she officially opened Hull Trains’ Learning & Development Academy on May 31.
The academy and driving simulator in the K2 building in Hull will enable drivers to become familiar with ETCS in-cab signalling before it is fitted to the Hull Trains’ fleet as part of the £1·4bn East Coast Digital Programme.
‘The Learning & Development Academy is key to our plan of harnessing the talent of tomorrow and ensuring that they have the skills to drive our company forwards for the benefit of customers and communities’, said Hull Trains and Lumo Managing Director Martijn Gilbert.
Haigh said ’we must inspire the next generation to join the exciting range of roles on offer in the rail industry and the Hull Trains Learning & Development Academy is a fantastic example of the cross-industry commitment to attracting the talent of tomorrow.
‘Lumo and Hull Trains have done a fantastic job in adding capacity and choice for passengers across the rail network.’
In April Labour published its rail strategy setting out plans to nationalise the remaining contracted passenger operators as their current contracts expire. For open access operators, it says ‘wherever there is a case that open access adds value and capacity to the network, they will be able to continue to compete to improve the offer to passengers’.
