Cameron B.

From British Combat Engineer To Track Inspector

I’ve always had a keen interest in engineering which lead me to a career in the forces as a combat engineer. After leaving the forces I was looking for a new and exciting challenge and found this to be the railway. At the age of 26 I felt I needed to find a career that I would enjoy and enrolled onto a apprenticeship within the rail industry. After completing my apprenticeship I decided to apply to network rail for a better work life balance and haven't looked back since.

Team leader Track Inspector

My role involves me to lead a team to examine the railway infrastructure looking for anything that may cause an issue to trains or the people using them. This is done with regular patrols and testing of the components among may other methods. A very important part of my role is to make sure safety measures are in place to allow the team to work safely while causing minimum disruption to the running of trains. If anything is found we action repairs on site to stop them becoming a problem allowing trains to pass safely.

In my current position I have a lot of freedom and responsibility.

Working on the railway gives you a lot of freedom to see different places and people everyday while enjoying the fresh air. Due to the nature of the role It comes with a level of responsibility. From making sure everyone in the team has a safe work environment to spotting any issues before they become a problem which can be a challenge sometimes but very rewarding.

Don’t be afraid to try new things

It's very easy to become "comfy" in life and not try new things. Taking on new challenges gives you the opportunity to experience new challenges that you have never thought you could do. While working on the railway and particularly for network rail I have been giving the opportunity to experience and learn new things which at the time seems daunting but have turned out to be very rewarding.

Where I am now

From staring my first day on the railway as a apprentice to leading a team in network rail in the time I have while gaining the knowledge and experience to allow me to do my role and attend incidents has been a big challenge and one I’m proud to have achieved.