RAIL minister Claire Perry declared the new National Training Academy for Rail formally open on 20 October, while almost 80 apprentices were already working their way through their first term.
The Academy, which is next door to the London Midland depot at King’s Heath in Northampton, has been built with the help of a 50 per cent funding contribution from Siemens as part of its deal to provide the new rolling stock for the Thameslink Programme.
Claire Perry told her audience of invited guests that she was delighted to help celebrate the opening, because “this is an industry for the future – not the past”.