Colas Rail is one of Europe’s leading suppliers of railway infrastructure services, we are award-winning specialists having constructed all forms of railways across Europe and the UK.
We specialise in:
- High Speed Lines
- Light /Metro Lines
- Freight Operator
- Track Laying, Renewal and Maintenance
- Operation and Maintenance of On Track Plant
- High Voltage and Traction Power
- Electrification & Signalling
- Rolling Stock Refurbishment & Maintenance
- Tramways
- Multidisciplinary Projects
- Engineering
- Control & Communication systems
We work on some of the continent’s most high-profile projects, including the delivery of major enhancement and maintenance frameworks for Network Rail and are currently working on some incredibly exciting projects like our £400 million project to regenerate Waterloo Station. We are also delivering major schemes overseas in North Africa, Asia and North America.
At Colas Rail we look outwards to our customers, seeing things from their point of view, responding to their suggestions and anticipating their needs, while being committed to delivering on our promise to them, our employees, the people we work with and our stakeholders.
Developing leaders of the future
Developing people is key to our operational success, with 25% of our leaders progressing through our Graduate Schemes. The Trainee & Apprentice programmes we run are equally as important to closing the skills gap facing the industry.
We build our own talent and develop them on fast track Leadership, Technical or Commercial schemes and this in turn results in loyal and passionate employees who deliver brilliantly for our contracts. We can demonstrate this approach on our alliance contracts such as S&C, Wessex Capacity Alliance and the Midland Metro Alliance where it produces fantastic results.
At Colas Rail we believe the investment made in training and development is vital to maintaining competitive advantage and we are committed to utilising training and development to ensure that every possible opportunity is available to our staff.
To find out more about us, please visit our website https://www.colasrail.co.uk/careers/graduate-programme/, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube: Colas Rail UK.
Graduate Profile
Grace Hayward – Management Scheme
I graduated from the University of Birmingham in July 2017 with a MEng Degree in Chemical Engineering/Energy Engineering; I could not have felt more proud of my achievement. It took four years of studying, a Design Project on the production of 30,000 tonnes of coffee per annum, a Research Project on the varied properties of activated carbon and its reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and many, many, many hours spent in the labs. When I first got the news that I had been accepted onto the Colas Rail Project Management Graduate Scheme I was elated. All of that hard work had paid off and I had learnt and developed the required skills to get myself a job in an engineering workplace. I am now seventeen months into the scheme and I have participated in three rotations within the business. My first ten months were spent in Rugby with Colas Rail Services working alongside the Operations and Standards Team. I was able to gain an insight into the planning and organisation of our freight delivery timetable and our on track machines. During this time, I was even lucky enough to ride in the cab with the train driver and operator, on a variety of routes. I then rotated to Birmingham to work with the Midland Metro Alliance (MMA) of which Colas Rail is the principle contractor for the planning, delivery and construction of the tramway throughout Birmingham City Centre. As part of my time at the MMA, I participated in a secondment to Paris to work alongside Colas Rail France. This was a fabulous opportunity to both learn and share ideas of working with light rail in differing countries and facilitate improvements for both businesses. Two years ago when I had graduated from University, there is no way I would believe that I would have done all that I have with Colas Rail. They have given me so many opportunities to learn a variety of roles in a variety of businesses. I truly believe the graduate scheme offers you time to learn and discover what you wish to do with your career and ask all those silly questions to gain the knowledge to get you to where you want to be in five years’ time and I am very grateful for this.