Tube Lines apprentices visit the Houses of Parliament

A select group of Tube Lines apprentices visited Stephen Timms, MP for East Ham and Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform, at the House of Commons on Tuesday 4 March. The visit gave the apprentices a chance to talk about their experiences working for Tube Lines and put questions to Mr Timms about current topical issues.  

 

Stephen Timms is one of the MPs for Newham, where Tube Lines has established its £10m Skills Training Centre, which provides specialised training for all its apprentices and Tube Lines employees. Those that visited parliament included two winners of the company’s Apprentices of the Year competition, an annual event that recognises the best and most improved apprentices from each year and was set up by Tube Lines to reward apprentices for their outstanding achievements.

 

The apprenticeship programme was set up to encourage young fresh engineering talent into the company. Apprenticeships last for approximately four years and during that time, apprentices attend NewhamCollege to gain technical certification. On completion of their course they continue within the company as fully qualified engineers. They then have the option to continue in further education and pursue a degree or Higher National Certification which is funded by Tube Lines.

 

The apprenticeship programme enables Tube Lines to train and develop highly skilled engineers who can help upgrade and maintain London’s Underground system. There has been a recent push to encourage more women onto the programme, with Tube Lines developing links with girls’ schools. This has seen a rise in applications from young women.

 

Currently there are 94 apprentices on the scheme, studying in fields from seven disciplines: signalling, signal design, train maintenance, ERU, track, workshop/plant, and escalators.

 

Newham resident and second year apprentice Mubarak Umerji, said:

“This is my second year as a Tube Lines apprentice and I think it’s great to have this opportunity. Being an apprentice gives me the chance to learn whilst earning and, more importantly, I can gain nationally recognised qualifications which will help me in my career. Meeting Mr Timms was a good opportunity to talk about Newham and its future. We were also shown around the House of Parliament which was something you don’t get to do everyday.”

 

Stephen Timms, MP for East Ham, said:

“I was reallypleased to welcome the Tube Lines apprentices to the House of Commons again. Today’s apprentices are some of the future leaders of business inLondon, and it is really important to listen to their views about our city and our economy. I was really impressed with their breadth of knowledge and the questions they asked. It is great to see such a thriving apprenticeship scheme running in the heart of Newham.”

ENDS

For further information, please contact:
Press office, Tube Lines: 020 7088 4848 / 07843 551 589

Notes to Editors

1. Tube Lines is responsible for the maintenance and upgrade of the infrastructure on the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines. London Underground is responsible for operating the Underground, for employing drivers and station staff, for ticketing and fares, and for the Tube’s safety regime.
2. The Tube Lines consortium consists of two shareholders – Amey and Bechtel. They bring together some of the most experienced providers of business services with specialist skills in the rail industry, including track and signal renewals, plus project and operational management. They are providing some of the best project and operational managers from around the world to work on the modernisation of the Tube system. Amey owns two-thirds of Tube Lines’ business and Bechtel one third.

If you would prefer not to receive future news from Tube Lines, please send an email to sarah.baranowski@tubelines.com with the subject heading “Unsubscribe”.