Rail opportunities demonstrated to learners

28th November 2014

Rail opportunities  demonstrated to learners

RAIL OPPORTUNITIES The current investment in the rail industry will open future employment opportunities
Photo by: Duane Daws

State-owned logistics company Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) and rail technology manufacturer Bombardier Transportation, in association with not-for-profit organisation Discover, Develop and Deploy Service (D3), rolled out the second Discover your Career in Rail initiative at Rondebult Secondary High School, near Boksburg, earlier last month.

The school is located in close proximity to one of TFR’s many facilities in a community that has previously been affected by level crossing incidents.

D3 MD Lara Slogrove says, while D3 had the opportunity to expose the learners to careers in the rail sector, the organisation also had the opportunity to pass on rail safety messages.

The current investment in the rail industry will open future employment opportunities, making this initiative key to ensuring future skills in the marketplace. The initiative will also assist those companies that are participating in the Discover your Career in Rail initiative in identifying and developing leaners that have expressed an interest in, and that meet as well as maintain, the academic requirements. The explicit objective of this programme is to develop the next generation.

The event was well attended by industry role-players, including the Department of Trade and Industry, Lebogang Bombo and Shumani Madondo from Bombardier Transportation, and Justice Ngoato and Lemogang Mapaila, of TFR, who captivated the learners as they described the various engineering disciplines within the rail industry.

Bombo, who recently joined Bombardier Transportation, is an industrial engineer and production manager. “I am intrigued by the ever-changing technology in a train and the manufacturing processes, and how this impacts on everyday South Africans who use this mode of transport,” he says.

A total of 600 learners participated in the event, with over 100 learners registering their interest in a career within the rail industry on the D3 database. Among the top three career choices were mechanical, civil and electrical engineering.

“Our next task is to further engage with industry and the school to finalise the list of interested learners who meet the requirements to follow a career in this industry,” says Slogrove.