New institute to provide railway training for Saudis

JEDDAH: A highly specialized technical institute will be established to train manpower required for the operation and maintenance of Saudi railways.
The Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) has signed an agreement with Saudi Arabian Railways Company (SAR) for the purpose.
The academic program, according to Dr. Ali Al-Ghafees, governor of TVTC, aims at providing advanced and comprehensive training to Saudi youth to help them take up important jobs at railways, including train engine driver, assistant driver and control managers.
The program will also include courses for the maintenance of electronic devices, signals and control systems, locomotives and carriages.
The Saudis will also be given training on welding railway tracks. The institute will admit 800 to 1,000 trainees.
“We have overtaken US President Barack Obama in establishing partnership between businesses and educational institutions. Obama called for such partnerships two years ago where as TVTC launched the program four years ago,” Al-Ghafees told a press conference.
The agreement was signed by Al-Ghafees with Mansour Al-Maiman, president of SAR. The new institute is expected to create a large number of jobs for Saudis throughout the railway line that passes by six regions.
“The agreement comes as part of TVTC’s efforts to establish strategic partnership with big national and international businesses in providing technical and vocational training,” the governor said.
In a similar statement, Al-Maiman said the agreement was signed to train Saudis for the operation and maintenance of Saudi railways and create more job opportunities for them, in technical and administrative areas.
He said SAR is working on establishing a new network of railways with a total length of 2,750 km, including six passenger and nine good stations apart from three mineral stations.
“We also intend to establish three main maintenance workshops in Riyadh, Hail and Naeeriya in addition to signal and control centers and primary maintenance centers.”
The new railways will pass by Riyadh, Sudair, Qassim, Hail, Al-Jouf and Gurayat.
The mineral railways begins from the phosphate mines in in the Northern Border Province to Ras Alkhair on the Arabian Gulf.
“These railway network requires well-trained staff for its operation and maintenance,” Al-Maiman told reporters.
Romaih Al-Romaih, CEO of SAR, said the company gives top priority to Saudization of jobs. “The new institute will recruit Saudis and provide them with advanced training on operation and maintenance.”
He also emphasized SAR’s plan to improve the company’s services to meet the hopes and aspirations of passengers.