Rail Industry - Shortage of Engineers?

This problem is endemic throughout the world.

While BR was in existence, there were plenty of 'on coming' apprentice engineers. The railways were like the military being a complete industry in themselves. I remember when the Class 91 loco's were being built at Crew (spelling) loco works. At the time they still made there own glass and even bricks!

That loco works has all but shut down (the site originally covered nearly 2.5 miles) York has gone, Doncaster about gone and Derby has been split up into individual 'little' businesses.

Everything has been put out to private tender and nobody wants to tender any more (due in part to liability).

My company did a lot of this work and it got to the stage that I closed the railway department and then emigrated. That was five years ago. I'm surprised there are any trains still running as I know my actions were not unique!

In some ways, the only rail venture still worth pursuing is 'Urban Light Rail'. In Tassie, the last passenger train left in 01 and freight is only hanging on by a thread. On the North Island, every state has a different gauge (to stop other states cashing in). What hope have we got? It's all very frustrating!

It is the clasic..blame it on something other than the 'Managers' who have self evidently not manged the 'shortage of engineers'...

Didn't they know how much manpower they had at the start of the job???

Asside from that..yes I dare say there is a shortage of manpower now that so many apprentice schemes etc have stopped..
But whats wrong with you? You should be worrying in case we havn't enough Estate Agents, Beauticians, Independant Financial Advisors, Counsellors, Call centre Operatives, Insurance Salesmen, Lawyers and Shoe Sales staff!
Have you no vision man?

.......and then there will be plenty of........the wrong kind of snow?

The really worrying thing is that, if there is a shortage of skilled engineers to do the work, the un-skilled ones will be promoted up to a position where they can be really dangerous! OR they won't and the work is not completed!......Endemic!.....Not just in the railways!

<......Endemic!.....Not just in the railways...>

...though it is arguable that in an environment like transportation, where safety-critical tasks are so commonplace, having both the capacity and the capability to tackle them must be a primary consideration for any organisation.

Or does the customer just have to accept shoddy work, risk and delays?

Oh, what about this for a 2008 Calendar (its in German, BTW)?

http://www.kuching.co.uk/Kalender.pdf

Nice carnage.

Lest we forget we have an international audience and I can safely say that in Holland it is exactly the same.

Years ago they introduced these double decker trains with really nice furniture and fittings in them. Change of management and now they are mostly standing somewhere gathering rust and dust. Over crowded commuters are not enough evidence in their books that they should have kept them running. Money wasters in management with too little real life experience to be trusted in a place with decision making power.

Come to think of it, isn't it the same in the NHS and the FA and the BAA and London transport with that infuriating KL?

Here we go again, good moaning start to 2008

Wow, never seen a calander like that before!

<...But whats wrong with you? You should be worrying in case we havn't enough Estate Agents, Beauticians, Independant Financial Advisors, Counsellors, Call centre Operatives, Insurance Salesmen, Lawyers and Shoe Sales staff!...>

Ah! They're the ones that create, manipulate and distribute the wealth, aren't they? They are the rail industry's CUSTOMERS!

Tee hee (nice one, Del)!

Lots of naughty people around.

You should read House of Bush, House of Saud: The Secret Relationship Between the World's Two Most Powerful Dynasties, by Craig Unger

If you are in to that sort of thing. Difficult read at times but ever so revealing.