ProRail Training Centre: Training New Traffic Controllers to Resolve Staff Shortages

ANPNew traffic controllers are trained in the ProRail training centre

NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 12:48

Travelers who regularly travel by train will probably remember the reports of train cancellations due to staff shortages. Less than a year ago, ProRail was faced with a major shortage of traffic controllers, as a result of which there were no trains running in large parts of the country for some periods. That problem now seems to have been resolved, ProRail confirms after a message from the AD.

The railway manager says that since last year it has been working hard to recruit more traffic controllers. Last year, the company was still about 70 people short. That number has dropped. In January they were only about 45 air traffic controllers short. That number is expected to reach 35 by the end of this year.

According to spokesman Andy Wiemer, this is due to a number of measures, such as a recruitment campaign and increasing internal training capacity. It wasn’t always easy, he says. “The labor market is difficult. You all have to fish in the same pond to get good people. In addition, the training also takes time, but you can now see the result.”

Travelers have had little trouble this year from train cancellations due to staff shortages, the Rover passenger association also noted.

“We have had many trains in the past that did not run due to the shortage. I can’t remember when that happened this year. This summer they also managed with all summer holidays,” says spokesman Freek Bos.

To cling

In addition to recruiting, according to ProRail, there has also been a cultural change within the company. “You can recruit people, but you also have to retain them,” says Wiemer. Employees are now being asked more to think about what the position should look like. “How can you best connect systems? Then it is useful to involve the people with the most understanding. In the past, that has not happened enough.”

ProRail has also noticed that young traffic controllers do not want to keep the job forever. That is why they are given career opportunities, in the hope that they will stay.

Not solved yet

Despite the great catching up, Wiemer emphasizes that the problem has not yet been completely solved. ProRail wants to bring in even more people to get ‘fat on their bones’. “If you have a wedding in a few weeks, you want to get off easily. Without hassle. You also have to be able to enjoy your break. If you have fat on your bones, it becomes easier and you can also take a hit. You have a spare.”

Looking back, ProRail also sees that the pressure on traffic controllers was sometimes too high. “They haven’t had a good time for a long time. They couldn’t always take a break or get a day off. We’re not quite there yet, but we’re well on our way.”

2023-08-15 10:48:28
#Shortage #traffic #controllers #partly #resolved #train #cancellations #reduced #significantly