New guidance could help more young people discover careers in rail

The rail industry offers careers across engineering, operations, project delivery, digital technology, finance, commercial, communications and many other disciplines, yet awareness remains one of the biggest barriers preventing young people from entering the sector. Young Rail Professionals' recent Rail Youth Promise consultation found that 73% of respondents identified a lack of awareness of rail careers as a barrier to entering the industry, while many said they would have benefited from learning more about the sector before choosing GCSEs, A Levels, apprenticeships, college or university. Improving awareness matters not only for the future rail workforce but also at a time when around 13% of 16 to 24-year-olds are not in education, employment or training (NEET). Through YRP's IntoRail programme, we have seen first-hand how little many participants know about the breadth of careers available before engaging with the industry. Meeting railway professionals, visiting operational sites and hearing first-hand career journeys consistently broadens participants' understanding of where a career in rail could take them.

Many of those education and career decisions begin around the age of 14. Young Rail Professionals therefore welcomes new guidance published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) clarifying how heritage railways can safely involve volunteers aged 14 up to school leaving age. Produced following the Employment Rights Act 2025, the guidance explains how organisations can assess suitable activities while maintaining robust arrangements for supervision, training, competency management and risk assessment. It does not require heritage railways to accept younger volunteers, but it removes longstanding uncertainty that has discouraged some organisations from offering opportunities to younger people.

YRP's long-standing partnership with the Ffestiniog Railway has shown how heritage railways offer something that is difficult to replicate elsewhere: the opportunity to develop practical skills while working alongside experienced volunteers on a live operational railway. More than 170 heritage railways operate across the UK, attracting over 13 million visitors each year, contributing more than £600 million to the economy and relying on around 22,000 volunteers. Working alongside experienced volunteers allows young people to build confidence and understand how engineering, operations, signalling, maintenance and customer service come together to run a railway, while exposing them to the breadth of careers that support the modern railway rather than only the roles they are most familiar with.

For heritage railways that choose to involve younger volunteers, the new guidance provides greater confidence about how those opportunities can be offered safely and responsibly. More importantly, it gives more young people the opportunity to experience the railway at exactly the stage when interests, ambitions and career choices are beginning to take shape.