News and Updates

Rail Vehicle Technician Qualification Pilot Held at MBTA

Posted July 2013

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) hosted a pilot of the National Rail Vehicle Technician Qualification Program at two of its rail facilities in Boston, July 9 and 10. Written assessments were administered to nineteen technicians in four subject areas: Couplers, Propulsion and Dynamic Braking, Car Body, and Doors. Their voluntary articipation was part of a process to help validate questions developed by a joint national labor-management committee on rail vehicle maintenance.

TWU and SEPTA Orient Students for Summer Transit Internship

Posted July 2013

Thirteen young people and their parents traveled through a massive Philadelphia rainstorm to get to the TWU 234 union hall Wednesday evening, June 26.  No one wanted to miss the orientation session for the fourth year of the SEPTA-TWU 234 summer internship program.  Students were selected from four Philadelphia High School Career and Technical Education programs.  The TWU-SEPTA Summer Internship runs for eight weeks, paying students for forty hours of work each week.  The students begin with classroom-based safety and background training, followed by summer-long shop assignments where,  working with TWU 234 mentors and SEPTA supervisors, they develop skills ranging from the technical—such as electrical, mechanical and body work—to the “soft skills” necessary for success in any workplace.

Weekly Update for July 3, 2013

Posted July 2013

This week’s update includes stories on Foxx next US Transportation Secretary, transit agencies against patent troll and NJ Transit working to reduce suicides.

USDOL, Office of Apprenticeship has Approved the Rail Vehicle Maintenance Technician Apprenticeship

Posted June 2013

The Office of Apprenticeship at the US Department of Labor has now officially approved the National Guidelines for Apprenticeship Standards for the Transit Rail Vehicle Maintenance Technician.  This new apprenticeship framework was developed by the National Rail Car Training Committee and submitted to US DOL by the Center.

Signals Training Consortium Courseware Development Teams Start Creating Courses

Posted June 2013

Last week, the SignalsTraining Consortium held virtual webinar meetings to kick off the content development for the following topic areas:
• Track Circuits
• Switches
• Train Stops
• Grade Crossings

Webinar technology enables Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) from all over the country to come together with Center Instructional Designers to work on courseware development.  During these kickoff meetings, these smaller courseware development teams (CDTs) reviewed the development timeline, followed up on action items from the in person kick-off meeting in May, identified existing resources and started to develop content that covers the learning objectives listed in the industry recognized training standards.