What is in place now

• Well-established organisations and initiatives focused on attracting and retaining diverse people to the industry, including The National Skills Academy for Rail, the National College for Advanced Transport & Infrastructure and Women in Rail.
• Continual Professional Development and networking programmes run by institutions with rail divisions including IMechE, IET, IRSE and PWI.
• Increased awareness of the importance of digital skills.

What we are working on

• Attracting more people skilled in non-traditional rail technical disciplines such as cyber security and new data analytics.
• Technology and soft solutions to maintain high levels of staff physical and mental well-being.
• New approaches to problem-solving including hackathons to encourage and inspire a more diverse range of start-ups, individuals and SMEs to engage in rail.

Where we need to get to

• The railway workforce evolves symbiotically with emerging technical change and is routinely involved in the generation of ideas and solutions.
• Companies across the rail sector are set up to support, challenge and develop the new talent attracted by the variety of technical challenges, ways of working and pace of progress in the industry.
• Rail organisations are recognised as forward-thinking employers of choice that invest in the long-term development of technically skilled people with digital competence a core consideration.
• People working in rail embrace new technologies because they see them as an opportunity to deliver a better experience for customers, have a safer and more fulfilling job, and gain skills as part of career development.