The rail industry is a popular sector for contractors. This is hardly surprising when you think about the scope of the rail industry in the UK. The UK rail network includes more than 2,500 stations and more than 40,000 bridges and tunnels.
Often described as the backbone of British industry, our railways have always played a key role and with major developments such as HS2 and Crossrail underway it is an exciting time to be involved.
The rail industry offers a wide range of opportunities for contractors with roles including:
- Civil/Structural Engineering
- Construction
- Design/ Development
- Electrical Engineering
- Environmental Engineering
- Maintenance
- Mechanical Engineering
- Overhead Line Engineering
- Programme/ Project Management
- QS/ Cost Engineering
- Signalling
- Surveying
Earning potential for skilled and experienced workers in the industry is excellent and there are lots of opportunities for progression and to work in different areas of the country.
At Sterling many of the contractors we employ enjoy varied and lucrative contracts in this sector. We anticipate demand for skilled contractors in the industry will continue to be high over the coming years. There is huge investment planned in our railways, HS2 alone has a £55 billion budget and projects such as Crossrail is the biggest civil engineering project in Europe. There are also numerous electrification projects and various upgrade and improvement projects underway and planned for the next few years around the UK.
Many workers in the rail industry are contractors working on temporary assignments. Assignments can vary from short term to long term contracts. The nature of the work means long shifts are often involved and contractors can be extremely busy travelling to different assignments too. In these circumstances working with a complaint and reliable umbrella company can help to ensure pay and tax affairs run smoothly.
Take a look at some statistics on the Rail industry in our infographic below.
