Partner Article

Mechan makes grade at high tech rail college

Equipment manufactured by Sheffield-based Mechan is being used to train the next generation of skilled workers required by the rail industry.

The depot maintenance specialist has supplied a bogie press and a set of lifting jacks to the National College for High Speed Rail in Doncaster.

Working with the college’s main construction contractor, Willmott Dixon, who completed the state-of-the-art Doncaster campus in August 2017, Mechan has created a bespoke 30-tonne bogie press to help with training. It will provide students with an opportunity to see first-hand how a bogie’s suspension is settled after maintenance, by mimicking the loads imposed by the rail vehicle.

A set of eight 15-tonne jacks has also been installed at the college to demonstrate how they are used within depots to service carriages without decoupling. Mechan’s flagship jacks are specified in workshops across the world, as up to 48 can be synchronised to allow just one operator to lift a 12-car train.

Lindsey Mills, Mechan’s sales manager, said: “This new teaching facility in Doncaster is furnished with cutting-edge rail technology and it is testament to the high regard in which our products are held that we were asked to contribute. Our jacks and bogie press will enable students to familiarise themselves with equipment they are highly likely to encounter in rail depots, giving them invaluable real-world experience.”

Clair Mowbray, chief executive of the National College for High Speed Rail, added: “Our new college is led by employers and it’s thanks to the incredible support from businesses like Mechan that we can lead the way in training the next generation of rail engineers and technicians. Having access to industry equipment and the latest technologies is extremely important; it makes a real difference for our learners and will ultimately help to close the skills gap as Britain begins to invest billions of pounds in modernising its national railway network.”

There are various opportunities for learners and apprentices to join the National College for High Speed Rail throughout 2018. To find out more visit www.nchsr.ac.uk or follow @nchsr.

For more information about the wide range of rail depot maintenance products supplied by Mechan, email info@mechan.co.uk, telephone (0114) 257 0563, visit www.mechan.co.uk or follow the firm on Twitter, @mechanuk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Nina Sorby .