East Ham apprentices win railway careers after training scheme

Melissa York, Reporter Thursday, March 14, 2013
12:01 PM

Two teenagers have found jobs in the railway industry on a Boris-backed Apprenticeship scheme set up to tackle high youth unemployment.

Farhan Pervaiz, 18, and Reece Suresh, 19, both from East Ham, have been recruited as engineers following 12 months of hands-on training on the longest heritage railway in Essex, Epping Ongar Railway.

Farhan said: “I’m really enjoying learning about the rail network and how important it is to do things quickly and properly. “There are a lot of career routes in the industry and I’m looking forward to seeing how far my Apprenticeship can take me.”

Last week was National Apprenticeship Week and The Apprenticeship project, supported by the Mayor of London Boris Johnson, was set up by Vital Rail in partnership with Vital Skills Training and Transport for London (TfL) in response to the fact one in four 16-to-24-year-olds are out of work in the capital.

Vital hope to increase the number of young apprentices this year. Visit www.vital-skills.com or call 0161 836 7024.