New railway studies: the Government is looking for a thousand specialists for the transfer of Cercanías

BarcelonaThe future transfer of railway responsibilities to Catalonia should lead to an improvement in the service, but to do so more hands are needed. With this in mind, the Government has presented a plan on Tuesday with a clear objective: that in the next three years 1,000 vocational training (FP) students will be trained to specialise in tasks related to the railway sector.

To achieve this objective, the Department of Education and the Department of Territory have agreed to promote training to have professionals who are basically specialised in track and catenary repair and in electronics for signalling and safety systems. On the one hand, the agreement contemplates creating new courses and reinforcing existing FP courses and, on the other, adapting the curricular content of existing training cycles to the needs of the railway sector.

The agreement thus aims to "boost the growth of the offer" of the intermediate degree of maintenance of railway rolling stock, which is currently only taught in an institute in Vilanova i la Geltrú with 25 places and the professional certificate of maintenance of electrical and electronic systems of ferrovi rolling stock.

Education sources detail that next year 240 places will be created in cycles related to the needs of the railway sector. 60 will be opened in Barcelona, ​​​​30 in Mataró and 150 in Vilanova i la Geltrú. Of the 150 in Vilanova, 60 will be used to promote specialization courses - which would be the FP masters that are accessed after a higher degree.

New FP 'masters'

Beyond the places available for the next academic year, the push should bring this type of training to Barcelona, ​​​​Granollers, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Lleida, Martorell, Mataró, Mora de Ebro, Mora la Nova, Ripoll, Rubí, Santa Perpetua de Mogoda, Tàrrega, Viladecans and Vilanova. All are territories that the Government considers "strategic locations for the railway sector."

The Generalitat also plans to implement two specialization courses: one specialization in advanced maintenance of railway rolling stock systems and another in railway signaling and telecommunications systems. In addition, both departments have committed to promoting more agreements with companies so that students can do dual internships in the railway sector.