Walsall training centre updates following recent roof collapse

Teams across Network Rail work together to respond

Caption: Roof collapse: damage caused by heavy rain

This webpage is dedicated to providing the latest news concerning our Walsall training centre after part of the roof collapsed following torrential rain late at night on Tuesday 16 June.

No one was injured and a risk assessment confirmed that we can continue to deliver training in parts of the building that have not been directly affected. However, remedial works are needed to repair the indoor track layout and a small number of classrooms which experienced the worst damage.

To find out the latest news concerning the remedial works, please see below:

• 16 June: Heavy rain caused significant damage to part of the centre’s roof, which subsequently gave way later that evening.
• 17 June: Risk assessments were undertaken first thing to understand what courses could continue at the centre.
• 18 June: Thanks to a quick and collaborative response between centre staff, the Planning and Admin team, Health and Safety colleagues, Works Delivery and Buildling Asset Management, risk assessments have been carried out, affected delegates have been notified and repair works have already begun. The Walsall team were able complete risk assessments and contact delegates due to use the classrooms and/or indoor track layout, to ensure they understood their training had been cancelled/postponed.

Tim Woodall, national training manager (North West and Central), said, “A massive thanks to everyone in the Walsall Network Rail Training team for going above and beyond during this incident. It’s times like these that prove how great we are at working together and coordinating a rapid and focused response to events outside of our control. Whilst it will take some time to get the affected areas back to normal, the dedication of colleagues across the business has shone through. Our thanks go to the routes and facilities for their support in recent days.”

Walsall has been providing essential training throughout the COVID-19 crisis after it was able to introduce the necessary safeguards to ensure training could continue with social distancing measures in place. To find out more, please visit our dedicated COVID-19 web page and FAQ.