NUMBER CRUNCHING
MEET THE MANAGER
Rail industry trainees at Horsted Keynes on February 28.
GARETH EVANS
60m2 The size of the main training room at Horsted Keynes.
The training offering is overseen by Jon Beardmore, business development manager.
IF you think about it, heritage railways are effectively training colleges – but we tend not to view them as such. They welcome enthusiastic members of the public, induct them, train them up and assess whether or not they are competent. New skills and experiences can be acquired which can broaden an individual’s outlook on life or prove invaluable in their career development.
£1m The sum invested in the facilities at Horsted Keynes.
Jon has a background in telecommunications, where he specialised in strategy, strategic business development and proposition design.
Heritage lines broadly operate within the same systems as their counterparts on the national network – albeit proportionate to a maximum 25mph railway (with a couple of notable exceptions under controlled conditions). For example, if you have volunteered on a heritage line in recent years, terms like Personal Track Safety (PTS) course will be familiar.
6 The number of roads in Horsted Keynes carriage shed.
Growing up close to the Bluebell, he loved visiting the railway as a child. He was taught chemistry at school by a locomotive driver, so the Bluebell has always been something he has taken an interest in.