Rebuilding Rail Workforce Baby Steps to Modern Rail

Rebuilding Rail Workforce “Baby Steps” to Modern Rail Education and Training Pasi Lautala, Ph. D, P. E. Director, Rail Transportation Program ptlautal@mtu. edu 906 -487 -3547

Outline • What does industry need and want? • Initiatives to resource development • On-line tool for (High Speed) Rail Education and Training Presentation Title: Rebuilding Rail Workforce

Workforce Demand Presentation Title: Rebuilding Rail Workforce

Critical Skills Presentation Title: Rebuilding Rail Workforce

Industry – University Collaboration Presentation Title: Rebuilding Rail Workforce

Extensive Industry Training • Class I railroads – Face-to-face and online training – 80 courses by Union Pacific only • Contractor Orientation – Collaborative safety training Presentation Title: Rebuilding Rail Workforce

AREMA Initiatives • Student Chapters – From one to ten over past three years • Mentoring program taking first steps • Railroad Engineering and Education Symposium (REES) – Biannual industry-university collaboration since 2008 – For university professors – Basic educational material for rail transportation/engineering Presentation Title: Rebuilding Rail Workforce

• National Tier-1 University Transportation Center • Central Theme: Shared Rail Corridors Presentation Title: Rebuilding Rail Workforce

(High Speed) Rail Learning System • Expanding demand for passenger rail – Limited domestic expertise (especially for higher speeds) • Geographically dispersed audience and stakeholders with limited size • Partial solution – Taking advantage of on-line technologies? • http: //www. mtti. mtu. edu /highspeedrail/ Presentation Title: Rebuilding Rail Workforce

HSRLS Concept WWW Student, Employees, Public - Training - Marketing - Classwork - Research Instructors/EDU - Instructional materials - Demonstrations - Grading Industry - Regulatory - Reporting - Workforce development Presentation Title: Rebuilding Rail Workforce 10