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Teens could be recruited as train drivers to help ‘improve’ Britain’s railways amid ongoing strikes

Can they start tomorrow?

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 16th May 2024

Teenagers could soon be recruited as train drivers in a bid to help “improve” Britain’s railways, the Government has announced.

Amid what have been ongoing strikes for the past couple of years now, and following on from the announcement back in February that ASLEF train drivers at several train companies and operators had voted ‘overwhelmingly’ to continue taking industrial action for another six months, the Government has now proposed lowering the minimum age to become a train driver from 20 to 18.

A consultation on the somewhat-controversial move is to be launched as part of the Government’s efforts to open up more careers in the rail sector to young people.

Ultimately, transport ministers believe this could “improve the reliability of rail services” across the UK.

Teens could be recruited as train drivers to help ‘improve’ Britain’s railways amid ongoing strikes / Credit: Network Rail | Northern

This surprising recruitment drive announcement comes after the Government has revealed that the train driver workforce is projected to shrink without opening up more opportunities for new recruits in the near future – especially given the fact the average age of a train driver in Britain is 48 years old, and many are set to retire within the next five years or so.

Under the new proposals set to go out to consultation, the Department for Transport (DfT) will create a new pathway for school leavers to take up apprenticeships and train to join the profession.

If agreed following the consultation, the new regulations to lower the minimum age for train drivers from 20 to 18 could be in place as early as this summer, according to the Government, which will apparently “help set thousands of young people on track to a career in transport” once they’ve bid farewell to their school days.

The Government says its proposal to lower the minimum age would “build resilience” across the railway.

The Government has launched a consultation of the lowering of the minimum train driver age / Credit: Northern

Not only is the proposal said to form part of wider Government plans to create more opportunities where young people can gain the skills they need to succeed, all while generating more jobs that lead to a “productive” and “high-skilled” economy, but transport ministers believe attracting more young train drivers would help the rail industry provide a “more reliable service” for customers when other staff are off sick or on annual leave.

By opening up the sector to young people, the Government claims this would be “a positive step” and one that directly benefits passengers.

“We want to open the door for young people considering transport as a career, and this proposal could give school-leavers a clear path into the sector,” commented Rail Minister, Huw Merriman, as the proposals were unveiled this week.

“By boosting age diversity in the sector and attracting more drivers, we can help support reliable services while creating opportunities for more young people.”

If the proposals are introduced, the Government says all prospective train drivers, regardless of their age, will continue to be held to the same stringent training requirements as before to ensure the safe use of our railways for everyone.

To become a licensed train driver in the UK, trainees must pass mandatory medical, psychological, fitness, and general professional competence examinations.

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They must also be trained by their employer on the trains and tracks they will be deployed on.

Featured Image – Northern

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Andy Burnham reveals plans to build underground tram and train line in Manchester by 2050

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant Underground train

Andy Burnham has announced some ambitious long-term plans to build an underground tram and train line in Manchester.

As Greater Manchester sets its sights on a new era of economic growth, on the way to becoming a ‘second city’ to rival any other on the planet by 2050, Mayor Andy Burnham shared the city region’s blueprint for a ‘greener, fairer future’ this week – with underground transport plans being right the heart of it.

Mr Burnham says his vision for the next decade is to create a ‘thriving’ city region where everyone can ‘live a good life’.

At the launch of The Greater Manchester Strategy 2025-2035 this week, the Mayor announced everything from plans to build thousands of new homes, including social housing, to intentions to transform the region’s technical education system through delivery of the Greater Manchester Baccalaureate (MBacc), and more.

Andy Burnham reveals plans to build an underground tram and train line in Manchester / Credit: TfGM

But it’s public transport where it seems some of the most significant changes are set to be made before 2050 arrives.

The Mayor revealed plans for new bus routes, tramlines, and train stations to connect ‘thriving communities’ across the city region with an integrated lower-cost transport system that’ll help more people get out and access new opportunities. 

Construction of a tram stop to service new homes at Victoria North will also start by 2028, it has been confirmed, while work to bring Metrolink to Stockport – which has already been announced to huge support – will begin by 2030.

Two commuter rail lines will join the Bee Network next December as well, with another six joining by 2028. 

The headline-grabbing announcement, though, has to be that Mr Burnham has also announced plans to unlock ‘transformative’ investment in transport infrastructure, so that by 2050, Manchester Piccadilly has an underground tram and train station with a high-speed rail link to Liverpool.

He’s also looking to boost regeneration of the surrounding area, effectively making it ‘the Kings Cross of the North’.  

“We’re the UK’s fastest growing economy and stand on the cusp of what I believe could be our best decade since the Victorian era,” commented Mayor Andy Burnham, “and our task for the next decade is to build a platform for success for all our residents.

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“Our vision is ambitious, but in my eight years as Mayor, I’ve learned that, when we pull together, there’s nothing we can’t achieve.

“There’s a long and proud tradition of collaboration in Greater Manchester. Devolution has turbocharged that and now we’re ready to deliver a new model of growth where no one is left behind.”

Featured Image – Maria Lupan (via Unsplash)

News

A preview of a promising philanthropic project as Embassy Village makes progress

Danny Jones Danny Jones Embassy homeless village Manchester tour preview progress

Embassy Village, the upcoming homeless village that is set to open in Manchester, is making quick progress, and we recently got to preview the project with an early tour of the site.

Located just outside the city centre proper in Castlefield and near the border into Salford, the humanitarian housing project is looking to provide not just shelter but food and drink, employment, education and all manner of support to local rough sleepers.

Starting out as a controversial shipping container concept, which would have seen repurposed bits of old freight cargo turned into ‘pods’, the idea has grown since then and now

In fact, they’re not far from being done, with the team currently predicting a November finish date. Here’s how it’s looking so far.

embassy village manchester
embassy village progress
Credit: The Manc Group

Situated along a slice of the Bridgewater Canal, running along the length of the recognisable railway arches – 22 of them, to be precise – Embassy Village is set to become the first privately-funded homeless community not just in the UK but anywhere in Europe.

As far as the group behind this inspiring bit of philanthropy can tell in researching for this development, they haven’t found anything like this anywhere on the continent, certainly not on this scale.

Starting out as a repurposed luxury tour bus turned mobile rough sleeping shelter, they have since gone on to run three male and two women’s shelters, helping more than 175 individuals get back on their feet, from being rehomed to getting back into work and, ultimately, living independently.

Created by co-founder and director Sid Williams back in 2018, who has already helped countless vulnerable adults in and around Greater Manchester, there is a lot of faith behind this initiative, quite literally, in fact.

Sid and his wife Tess, who has also been helping spearhead Embassy‘s work here in the UK, are passionate Christians, but there’s no dogmatic or preachy vibes to be detected – at least as far as we could tell, anyway.

homeless village castlefield mcr
The ‘Village Hall’, where work, education and general life skills will be developed.
homeless village greater manchester
Outdoor spaces are being carved out, including areas to relax, sports courts and more.
Suitable candidates in the shelter system will be selected in order to identify those who could manage resettlement. (Credit: The Manc)

Besides a nice ‘tithing’ idea, which sees 10% of all unrestricted funds from the village donated to relevant charities in the region and further afield, the only real Christian value being promoted here is ‘love thy neighbour’, and that’s the kind of ethos we can get behind regardless of creed.

You can see some of the old fashioned values in aspects such as the public hall seen above, where people will not only be encouraged to gather but learn, create, socialise and once again start to reintegrate into a proper community.

There’ll even be parts of the Embassy’s ‘resettlement team’ living on-site to help get people back on their feet, with at least one dedicated staff member assigned to every six residents.

As Sid put it in a spin on the well-trodden old proverb, ‘it takes a village to raise a child’, he believes that sometimes, “it takes a city to raise a village.”

Those staying here will not be given a leg up back into the working world, providing inroads to full-time contracts and a proper wage, but they will also be encouraged to take up wellbeing activities, taken on trips and away days beyond the city limits and Greater Manchester full stop.

An example of the on-site staff’s living quarters.
Each unit will have it own front door and all essential amenities.
They have an approximate 92% success rate when it comes to rehoming and reintegrating residents, with many ultimately coming back to work for the organisation. Think of it as a ‘pay it forward’ spirit,

With dozens of local businesses contributing to the construction of Embassy Village, they’ve now managed to raise more than £5.2 million in funding.

As well as backing from developers Capital & Centric (led by Salford-born Tim Heatley) and the likes of regeneration specialist Peel L&P, who made the land available, there are several other organisations chipping in to help house upwards of 40 different individuals.

That being said, they are still roughly £400,000 short of their desired target, which will help them build every aspect of Embassy Village they’re hoping to make come to fruition, so further partnerships are obviously welcome.

Following an official update from Manchester City Council, we can also now confirm that the space will link up to the soon-to-be expanded Castlefield Viaduct, where three of four currently out-of-use tram lines will be turned into one long sky garden, similar to New York’s famous High Line.

Following our tour of Embassy Village so far, there was one salient takeaway: there are a lot of people who really care about this cause working on this project.

Is it perfect? Maybe not? Would it be great if we could simply end Greater Manchester’s rough sleeping crisis by housing every rough sleeper in a traditional home, or one of the many new build properties in 0161? Of course it would, but we sadly all know it isn’t as simple as that.

Nevertheless, this current option is damn sight better than the alternative: allowing more and more people to end up on the streets, bouncing in and out of shelters, struggling with addiction, mental health and so on. They’re trying and they already have a proven track record spanning more than half a decade.

You can get a better idea of what it will look like when completed down below.

A look at Embassy Village as construction on Manchester’s homeless housing project begins
The preview tour did help us picture how these Embassy Village CGIs will be brought to life.

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Featured Images — The Manc Group

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