YRP Awards 2020

The YRP Awards recognise individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the rail industry, through their outstanding achievements, extraordinary enthusiasm and inspiration to others.

With COVID continuing to impact the nation and our industry, and the recent decision to postpone the YRP 2020 Annual Dinner, YRP felt that now more than ever we needed to showcase the amazing talent our industry has and recognise the extraordinary contributions that young professionals make. 

This year, YRP held the 2020 Awards as a virtual ceremony to celebrate the achievements of young professionals, apprentices, and their mentors, and to hear the winners of these prestigious awards announced.

We are delighted to report the following winners and their reactions to receiving such prestigious awards;

Young Rail Professional of the Year Award: Hannah Truscott, Bombardier Transportation

“I am delighted to have received this reward. The achievements of all the nominees this year is inspiring and we should all be proud.

I am extremely passionate about enthusing young people about the many opportunities the rail industry has to offer. My interest in rail stemmed from a visit of a Bombardier employee to my secondary school, where she spoke about the importance of changing the stereotypical perception a rail employee. She talked about the variety of roles available in the sector ranging from train drivers and customer service, to engineers and project managers. I hope to have the same impact on the schools I visit over the course of my career as she did for me.

I would like to thank Nina Atwal for believing that I was worthy of a nomination. You deserve many awards and trophies of your own and I really wouldn’t have been able to be involved in as much as I have without your encouragement. I’d also like to thank my mentor, Philip Hope-Shannon. Thank you for always taking the time out of your extremely hectic day job to support my development with competency reviews, end of placement presentations and last minute meetings during my moments of uncertainty.  Finally, a huge thank you to Jane Sanders and those who support the running of the Bombardier Graduate scheme. The scheme is a true success. It not only provides graduates with a well-rounded understanding of the business, but encourages them to branch outside of the day job, be innovative, challenge the status quo and work with our local schools and communities. By having the opportunity to do this, we are able to educate students, parents, teachers, careers advisors, and those who are thinking about a complete change in career,  about what a wonderful industry rail is. I will forever be grateful to the Bombardier Graduate Scheme for providing me with the foundations for my career. Having finished the Scheme in September 2020, I have recently started my new role as a Project Commercial Manager for our UK Services Projects.  I am looking forward to managing my own projects over the coming years and embracing the many high’s and low’s heading my way. “

Young Rail Professional’s Apprentice of the Year Award: Jack Dalton, telent

“It is an absolute honour to receive this award and I’d like to thank Telent for making this possible and giving me the opportunity to learn and succeed! My future career ambitions are to keep heading in this current direction. I want to delve deeper into the Networking world and continually challenge myself every day. I think it is vital to have young people within the Rail industry as they form the future, and I encourage young professionals to learn more and get involved! Lastly, I’d like to give a special thanks to everybody within the IP Networks Team at Telent. Without the positivity and endless knowledge that they all provide, my working life would not be the same.”

Young Rail Professional’s Mentor of the Year Award: Nerdeep Mann, Bombardier Transportation

“Firstly, I would like to thank you all for this prestigious recognition and award for 2020, I see this as one of my most valued achievements.

It truly has been a journey for me personally and professionally ensuring every possible opportunity for all young rail professionals is explored. I cannot underestimate the hard work that goes into supporting our STEM and community outreach programmes that are fully supported and endorsed by our Bombardier Leadership Team. I would like to specifically thank Nina Atwal who works tirelessly to support local teams in addition to our wider business goals to attract young rail professionals with diverse backgrounds through, widening access to our opportunities. Furthermore, I must thank all our Mentors across our business that support our Apprenticeship program coaching and developing our young talent throughout their careers with such passion and enthusiasm.

Over the last few years, I have seen the criticality of recruiting young rail professionals as they offer such valued contributions to our business, a new way of thinking and doing things in what has been a very ‘traditional’ world! Many of our apprentices are already on successful paths, setting out their career goals with development plans – our company’s future is in very capable hands! “

The 2021 Awards will be held as a virtual ceremony in April 2021.