This young man from France is going to be a freight train driver with the help of TÜV NORD Bildung.
Since early January, the training centre run by TÜV NORD Bildung in Völklingen in the Saarland has been the venue for the cross-border training of freight train drivers, “conducteurs de trains de marchandises transfrontalières” in French. The ten participants come from just over the border in France and were selected for the training, examined for their physical suitability and subjected to a psychological test by the French employment agency, the “Pôle Emploi”.
The men started the ten-month period of training with a theoretical element before going on in March to their first practical training phase at German railway companies. After a four-week internship at railway companies including CFL Cargo, Rhenus Rail TX Logistik, Saar Mosel Rail and HSL Logistik that took some of them as far afield as northern Germany, the participants were all given consistently positive assessments. Some of them were even promised jobs in the event of success in the final exam. The freight train driver test (5 TfPV) which took place at the end of this training phase was sat and passed by all the participants.
In June, the prospective drivers embarked on the second practical phase, “Driving trains and shunting”. The training programme also includes basic theoretical courses for electric and diesel locomotives and qualifications as authorised brake testers and waggon inspectors.
The next cross-border training with eight participants from France began on 22 May 2018. Between now and 15 November 2018, the seven men and one woman will be trained as waggon masters/escort shunting staff or “opérateurs de production au sol”. A new partner on the Saar was also found for the upcoming placements of two weeks each. SAARSTAHL, with its own railway transport company Saar Rail, has already given notification of four appointments. Declarations of intent have also been given by other railway companies, thus paving the way for participants who successfully pass the final exam to be directly integrated into the labour market.