Training Next Generation Rail Vehicle Maintainers – SEPTA Silverliner V

Nearly two years before Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA’s) newest rail vehicle, the Silverliner V, begins service the authority has embarked on a plan to upgrade the skills of their maintenance workforce to enable them to maintain and repair what will be the newest and most advanced vehicle in their fleet. SEPTA’s technical training department and Educational Data Systems worked together to determine the skills needed to maintain the new fleet of vehicles, analyze the skills of the workforce maintaining the current fleet, and identify the skill gaps that exist. Using this data, a training program was developed to upgrade the skill level of the maintainers and prepare them for vendor specific training. This project also helped to determine the core skill that will be needed by new rail vehicle maintainers and identify the resources, internally and through the local and state workforce development systems, technical schools and community colleges, that will be needed to prepare the next generation of rail vehicle maintainers.