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The National College of High Speed Rail
The National College of High Speed Rail has officially opened its doors today.
The specialist vocational college, located in Birmingham’s city centre, will provide training to the next generation of civil engineers and also provide a much needed workforce to develop the major infrastructure project, HS2.
The college offers an alternative option to the traditional university route, with a variety of higher level courses and technical apprenticeships available.
Thank you to everyone who joined us today. We are extremely proud to introduce to you to our innovative training facilities #doorsareopen pic.twitter.com/mSjGsIWKXx
— NCHSR (@NCHSR) October 16, 2017
The college’s development is part of the government’s long term economic plan to support education that betters the UK’s infrastructure where more jobs and opportunities are created for young people.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills say that as many as 2,000 apprenticeship opportunities will be created by HS2, as well as 25,000 people employed during construction.
They also predict that the project could lead to an additional 400,000 jobs. This means that skilled and proficient students located in Birmingham could be the ideal applicants for these opportunities.
The extremely modern looking campus is equipped with new state-of-the-art facilities such as classrooms fitted with virtual reality learning systems and 3D printers.
In addition to this, Eurostar and Alstom have donated real high speed trains and railway lines for students to learn the skills required to build, operate and maintain these mechanisms.
Darren Chikono is currently studying the Certificate of Higher Education in High Speed Rail and Infrastructure:
“The facilities here are wonderful. The technology is very advanced but is also something that is user-friendly.
“We’ve had a couple of employers come in and give us lectures on what our course entails and it’s been good so far.”
Birmingham was chosen as the ideal location for the college as the city has excellent links to established rail industry businesses and is at the heart of the railway network.