Railway Engineering Workshop Apprentice Review

As an electro-mechanical fitter in the Railway Engineering Workshop you overhaul and inspect various parts of equipment that come from the various stocks of tube trains in the London Underground. This includes motors, wheelsets and gearboxes, brake cylinders and systems, various electrical and pneumatic switches through all the way to working on restoration and life extension works on tube train carriages themselves. The work comprises mainly of stripping down and cleaning the piece of equipment, inspecting all the parts for wear and damage, replacing or repairing any worn out or broken parts, re-assembling the equipment and then testing it to ensure it's fit for use out on the tube trains. As an apprentice you go around the various sections of the workshop from electrical work, motors, wheels, compressors, the train maintenance unit(working on bogeys and carriages) and a few smaller more specialist sections such as electronics or plant(fitting and maintenance of machines and workshop equipment).

Through my apprenticeship I've learnt a vast amount of new skills, from learning to assemble electronic circuits, learning how to weld, how to create something using hand tools and engineering techniques such as the lathe or a mill at the training school. Out on placement at the Railway Engineering Workshop I've learnt a lot about carrying out maintenance and overhauling various pieces of railway equipment from a type of electrical switch that fits into the palm of your hand, through to how to replace the wheels on a massive train carriage axel. I've learnt how to handle various tools and equipment such as a lathe, torque wrenches, electrical test benches, a soldering iron, overhead cranes and even a welding torch.

I find engineering really interesting and it's amazing to learn first hand how various parts of a train work and interact with each other. The work is varied and interesting, with new challenges always arising through faults or incident on the network that cause parts to fail in ways that happen often, making nearly every job different. It's great being to able to work on something and overhaul, then travel on a tube the next day and realise, in your own small way, you've helped to make sure the train can keep running and operating on the network.

There are always unavoidable issues that arise with timing and being part of an active busy network that runs nearly everyday of the year, problems arise that need addressing. That said sometimes things seem a little more disorganised than they should be for such a large company and things are often not sorted out or taken care of as quickly or to an extent that I'd say they should be.

The apprentice unit of LU Engineering have been amazingly supportive and are always prepared to help in whichever way they can. The support of TFL as a whole is also amazing, with plenty of opportunities for help if you struggle at any point. Sometimes while out on placement you don't receive the full support you do from the rest of the company from the operating staff, but for the most part, if they have time, people are more than willing to help you out in anyway they can.

The LU training school gave us all the necessary tools during out first year to be able to go out into the business and operate effectively. Anytime an issue arises they are more than happy to help us fix the problem and find a solution that works for everyone. We use Onefile as an electronic system for working towards our qualifications and evidence and support is only an email away if we ever need any help.

Having completed a BTEC level 3 during my first year, this gave me the basis for all the background engineering knowledge I'd need to go out into the business and get hands on in the operations side of things. Practical skills were taught to us at the training school also during our first year, which allowed us to get to know the tools and processes we'd encounter out in the business and become more familiar with them.

As TFL is a huge company there's always some from of extra curricular activity taking place if you want to join in. From coffee mornings, to local sports teams, to use of Yammer(our in company social media platform), there's always something for someone to find and join in with if they wanted to.

Yes

TFL is a big company covering many different aspects from surface transport, to railway engineering, to civil engineering, power, electronics, HR and even design. There's nearly something for everyone and there's the opportunity to explore the business in parts and move disciplines if you so desire, an opportunity not often available in most companies. The amount of support and help in place if need as well is excellent, having myself suffered a large injury that required an operation, my managers and occupational health were excellent in helping me recover as quick as I can, and also making sure I was safe and fully supported when I did return to work.

Take the time to look through the opportunities available and see what you'd really like to do. Perhaps do a little research into what the TFL network includes, as when I joined I was surprised to find out just how much the company takes care of and works on, so there's bound to be something you find interesting somewhere. Otherwise just be yourself and try not to panic too much.