News

Rail Vehicle Technician Qualification System Approved by TCRP Panel

Posted February 2014

The Transportation Research Board’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) will soon be publishing an important new report,  An Industry-Wide System of Qualification for Transit Rail Car Technicians - Building for Success.  The report presents the findings of a five-year labor-management TCRP project designed to help the industry meet the challenge of qualifying a new generation of Rail Car Technicians.  With more than half of the industry’s frontline technicians projected to retire over the next decade, and rail transit expanding rapidly, agencies urgently need technicians with sophisticated skill sets for the new technologies of today and tomorrow.

The system of qualification introduced in this new report integrates ten layers, from consensus national training standards , classroom and on-the-job learning frameworks, training for instructors and workplace mentoring systems and tracking the training and written and hands-on skill assessments.  Last June the US Department of Labor approved the national framework for apprenticeship developed by transit management and labor experts on the TCRP E-7 Panel and the broader National Rail Vehicle Training Committee.  The qualification system provides an integrated set of national resources designed for customization to local fleets, career progressions and practices.

Jay Shah, General Superintendent, Dept. of Subways at MTA NYC Transit and John Costa, International Vice President of the Amalgamated Transit Union co-chaired both the E-7 expert panel and the National Rail Car Training Committee.  The work was accomplished by subject matter experts from more than 20 transit agencies and the local unions representing their Rail Car maintenance employees.  The technical work in developing the system of qualification was carried out by the Transportation Learning Center as part of its national program for developing a standards-based system of qualification for transit blue collar occupations. 

Pre-publication copies of the Introduction and Overview of the new report are available here.  For more information, contact Mark Dysart or Julie Deibel at the Center.