When I Grow Up... Ava's Rail Adventure

by James Kenealey on 15th November 2018

This is Ava. Ava is eight, and looking to start her career in the railway, so she joined the UK's leading rail training provider, Morson Vital Training, to find out more.

She headed to see Matthew Leavis, head of UK training for Morson Group, to find out just what she would need to do to join the railway - and find out when she could start...

"What do I need to work on the railway?"

Initially, to work on the railway you need to find an employer - somebody like Morson Group would be a great opportunity. From there, you'll go through a series of screenings, so you'll have a medical, they'll check your eyesight, they'll check your ears and make sure everything is OK. You'll also go for a breath test which makes sure you haven't drunk any alcohol, because you can't drink and go to work. Then, you need to go on some training courses to make sure you're safe all the time."

"What jobs could I do on the railway?"

There's so many different things you could do, there's a huge list. Anything from track operative, where you'd be our there with the machines every day making sure the trains are running on time and doing everything they need to do. There's also back office, doing planning, finance, legal, HR, technology - there's also train driving. Everything in the railway is the same as any other business.

"Would I get to play games if I worked on the railway?"

Funnily enough, we do use a lot of technology, so we use a lot of tablets, smart technology, smartphones - and believe it or not they've now started using drones to start checking to see if everything's safe and if the trains are running correctly. So yes, if you joined the railway, you could play games!

"What age would I have to be to join the railway?"

There are lots of different roles but normally you have to work nights and weekends. You can join from 16 years old but some of the responsibilities you have you wouldn't be able to do until you were 18.