The National College for Advanced Transport & Infrastructure (NCATI) is expanding its delivery into the international rail market, having partnered with Etihad Rail, developer and operator of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) national railway network, to develop rail engineering course content.
This working partnership is one of the first steps the College is taking in sharing their expert knowledge on a global stage.
Etihad Rail was established in 2009 with the mission to develop and operate a safe, sustainable and cost-efficient rail network for the UAE. The rail network will connect the seven emirates and their neighbouring GCC countries with the goal of enhancing and supporting the UAE economy. It is expected that the 1,200km railway project will cost AED40bn ($11bn).
As well as generating job opportunities for contractors worldwide, Etihad Rail has announced they will launch a new three-year training programme for UAE nationals and have called upon the National College for Advanced Transport and Infrastructure to develop and supply the required learning resources.
The training materials have been produced by rail industry expert lecturers from the College and will be delivered by Etihad Rail directly to their workforce in the UAE. The course content will be based on the City and Guilds level 2 Rail Engineering competency qualification and all materials have been created to ensure the learners are able to meet the competency standards in the qualification specification.
Head of Curriculum Development at the National College for Advanced Transport & Infrastructure, Charles Anderson said: “We are very proud of the ever-evolving curriculum we offer here in the UK that is helping to prepare the future rail and transport workforce. And even more so to see that training be taken onboard by transport operators in other countries who have recognised the expertise and hard work in transport education that is being undertaken here.”
Despite this being the first project to arise between the National College and Etihad Rail, it comes as part of an ongoing relationship which was prompted when the UAE based organisation visited the Doncaster campus in 2018.
The project is just the first of many international opportunities for the College to emerge from the Middle East, as discussions regarding a similar relationship are currently underway between the National College and a College in Saudi Arabia.
For further information please contact Susanne.davies@ncati.ac.uk.
