Case Studies

Transport Advice & Consultancy Case Study

RAIB Training

In the railway industry, many diverse skills are required to satisfy the operational and technical needs of the various businesses. Rail professionals tend to specialize in particular disciplines and often highly skilled railway managers have limited breadth of railway knowledge. One group of specialists who have to understand all UK rail systems at many levels are the inspectors of the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB).

In 2006 after a major recruitment programme, RAIB realized that the majority of its field staff came from a main-line rail background, and sought to extend their skills to cover other systems - particularly the London Underground. Fifth Dimension Associates Ltd. (FDAL) was brought in to develop and deliver a specialized fast-track training course to cover all of the important aspects of London Underground (LU) practices that the accident inspectors would need to understand.

The course developed was aimed at senior railway specialists and tailored to their particular needs and the time available. A three-day schedule was built up comprising two days of class-room based instruction, with experienced skilled rail practitioners delivering the lectures, and a third day of site visits. FDAL's relationship with LU and its PPP and PFI suppliers ensured that the RAIB team were given access to a number of important LU and Infraco locations and facilities, and the FDAL team undertook all of the necessary liaison to ensure that LU and Infraco managers were available to talk through issues and answer questions.

A full training pack was provided, with topic specific notes in addition to handouts from the lectures themselves. Site visits included a signalling training centre, access to which ensured that the inspectors could see first hand the types of signalling and track components particular to the underground, all of this being safely away from the operational railway. Other operational locations such as signalling control and power control rooms were also visited.

The total package was delivered at short notice and brought the RAIB team up to speed far more quickly than would have been possible with "on the job" learning.

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