Rail electrification workforce has halved since 2018, study suggests

Speaking at RAIL Live, the head of UK Projects at Furrer + Frey, Noel Dolphin said that industry had lost nearly 65% of its skilled workforce within the electrification and plant sector, with that number due to fall even further.

He told the audience during the state of electrification panel, that 7,000 jobs had been lost in the sector from a peak of 10,000 in 2018 to an expected 4,000 currently, citing figures from the recent National Skills Academy for Rail workforce study.

Dolphin said: “It’s a rather pessimistic outlook currently. We’re looking at a huge drop – nearly 65% of a highly skilled workforce is now out of a job.”

Dolphin also revealed to the audience that he expects that figure to drop even further by the end of 2025, believing that it would put pressure on a sector already struggling to keep its workforce within rail.

Dolphin said that future projects could suffer, adding: “It’s what is lost though that is the real fear here. By the time we begin to electrify HS2 or to electrify East West Rail, which is some way off yet, those skills will be lost to other industries.”

He added that there was an immediate need for investment to ensure jobs within electrification and plant.

“We need that investment now. That includes Midland Main Line, which without further funding will stop very soon. It is crazy to think that the Midland Main Line will not be electrified. Really, we need that certainty as soon as possible.”