Levenmouth Rail Link Skills Academy celebrates success

Nine young people are celebrating the successful completion of their training with the Levenmouth Rail Skills Academy.
The Skills Academy has run for the last nine weeks as part of the £116m Scottish Government-funded project to reconnect Leven to the mainline rail network. It’s part of the project’s ambition to encourage the next generation of railway workers into the industry.
Following five weeks of classroom-based training, the students gained qualifications such as working at height, harness training, personal track safety and equipment use. There then followed four weeks of work on site gaining work experience with the contractors delivering the rail link end enabling the students to get involved in delivering the work.
The successful completion of the Academy was marked with an event at Bayview Stadium, where the young people shared their experiences of the past nine weeks with guests and what it means to them to have completed the course.
They then took part in a ‘speed interview’ session, gaining interview experience with the supply chain contractors delivering the rail link - with the potential to secure future employment.
The academy approach has been successful in other areas and has led to students gaining employment within the rail maintenance sector. As well as the active participation of the railway contractors, the programme also included support from Fife Council in the form of a £55 per week training allowance.
Credit: Network Rail