Railway Industry
The Railway Industry
Since the demise of British Rail (BR), the rail industry is now fragmented into many pieces. First of all there are the Passenger Train Operating Companies (TOCs).
The rail network is under the care of the aptly named Network Rail. Although Network Rail are responsible for the track, tunnels and bridges etc. a lot of the work is done by Consultants and Contractors, although recently Network Rail have begun to reverse that trend and now have a large graduate and summer vacation placements scheme.
Looking to the future some of the proposed Rail Projects include the development of Crossrail which will allow travel across London via the National rail network, as well The East London Line which will allow passengers to traverse London without going into heavily congested central London Stations via the Underground system.
Back in the sixties a chap called Dr Beeching had the bright idea of cutting miles of the rail network as they were not "profitable". Fortunately many rail enthusiasts took the initiative and raised money to buy up the tracks and rolling stock so that today there is a healthy network of Tourist or Heritage Railways across the UK which run profitably, albeit staffed mainly by volunteers. However there are professional engineers working on these lines, and although the technology may be archaic, these preserved railways provide useful practical experience for volunteers in the Engineering workshops or on trackbed maintenance. The link below provides a list of these organisations.
One that we have used regularly with great success is the Ffestiniog Railway in North Wales where you can enjoy beautiful scenery while you are working. At nearby Caernarfon they are building virtually a new railway which cuts through the Snowdonia National Park.
You may not be aware that there are an increasing number of tramways opening across the UK to cope with the ever increasing urban transport congestion. This includes Docklands Light Railway, Croydon, Sheffield, Nottingham, Manchester and the West Midlands.
To
complete the picture there are many companies who manufacture goods and
provide services to the Rail Industry, e.g. rolling stock, signalling
equipment, trackbed and safety systems. Here a few sites below of rail related
associations with access to their members or associated companies.