In view of the increasing demand for new electrification to serve expansion needs, new construction projects and modernisation of the German rail network in the years ahead and the resulting urgent need for new and well-trained employees, DB Bahnbau Gruppe GmbH, EUROPTEN Deutschland GmbH, Furrer + Frey Deutschland GmbH, Heicon Service GmbH + Co KG, Rail Power Systems GmbH, SPITZKE SE GVZ, , STRABAG Rail Fahrleitungen GmbH, SPL POWERLINES GERMANY GMBH and the German Railway Industry Association (VDB) have joined forces with the Training Initiative for Overhead Line Equipment (AOLA).
AOLA aims to qualify skilled workers on a joint basis, and to provide them with further training for the profession – with an additional year of training for prospective overhead linesmen that have already completed their vocational training.
The companies have now been cooperating for over a year on the development of teaching and training content, the planning of training modules and the preparation of further training for employees. In the first year of the initiative, each of the equal partners sends two trainees from all corners of Germany – and makes learning materials, training centres and trainers available for the courses.
Ralf Hickethier, spokesperson for the AOLA initiative, states: “Together we can make the world a ‘cooler’ place than it is today! This training initiative lays the foundations to train young people as overhead linesmen. In the future, these linesmen will contribute to safe electric train operation and help to create a sustainable and climate-friendly transport system.”