Network Rail is inviting young people and their families from across the West of England and Thames Valley area to its state-of-the-art maintenance training centre in Bristol to experience life as a railway apprentice and meet the people and high-tech kit involved in keeping Britain’s rail network running.

The company is seeking 50 new apprentices to join its ranks along the Western route, where billions of pounds is being invested in electrifying and upgrading the railway over the next few years. With this and further investment across Britain, today’s apprentice could tomorrow be part of one of the biggest infrastructure projects in the country.

Those attending will have the chance to speak to current and past apprentices, engineers and recruiters about the scheme and the opportunities available.

Michelle Palin, who heads up recruitment for the Network Rail scheme said: “It’s a very exciting time to work on the Great Western route with electrification, Reading station development and Crossrail. We need more highly skilled people to help us meet the challenges of a busier network and focus on improving performance and increasing capacity. The apprenticeship is just the start of our learning programme. The Bristol training centre is evidence of the quality of training our people of all levels are offered and we’re committed to developing our workforce.

“Many of our apprentices go on to be team leaders and managers and take up the opportunity to further their education with a foundation degree in engineering, which we fund and support. I look forward to meeting lots of young men and women and their families to showcase the exciting opportunities available.”