This summer, I joined Network Rail’s Track Renewals team at Cadder depot as a Project Management Intern through the Saltire Scholars Programme. As an MEng Product Design Engineering student at the University of Glasgow and Glasgow School of Art, the railway was a completely new environment for me.
My time at Cadder depot began with a Track Engineering Basics briefing from a senior engineer, setting me on the right track from my first few weeks. From there, I had the opportunity to shadow different areas within Track Renewals, including project planning, track engineering, design and construction. I attended meetings along with my managers, took part in a QSRA (Quantitative Schedule Risk Analysis), and joined our team’s weekly whiteboard meetings where major ongoing and upcoming projects were discussed. These experiences gave me an insight into how a project progresses from planning and design through to the work happening on site.
One of my favourite experiences was the site visit inEaster Fearn and Balblair near Inverness for a track walk on the Far North Line. Walking over 4.23 km of track and seeing processes such as tamping, thermite welding and snagging firsthand gave me a completely different perspective. The Construction Manager and the team encouraged me to ask questions and took the time to answer them throughout the day. It also gave me the chance to experience a beautiful part of Scotland I had never seen before.
As my internship continued, I was fortunate to experience many different parts of the railway. Other highlights included a site visit for the drainage works at Paisley Canal, visiting Larbert Training Centre and ScotRail’s CCTV Control Centre in Paisley, touring Glasgow Central Station, and visiting the West of Scotland Signalling Centre at Cowlairs. At the signalling centre, I was able to observe the signallers at work and learn more about how railway movements all over Scotland are controlled from this one centre - another side of the industry I had known very little about before the internship.
Before starting at Network Rail, I thought of the railway as being predominantly civil engineering. I quickly discovered how much more there is behind it. What surprised me most was the sheer amount of planning and coordination, and the number of different roles, disciplines and contractors involved in delivering even one project. The amount of work that happens behind the scenes to keep the railway running safely still amazes me, especially within the Track Renewals team.
Another part of the internship I really valued was having access to Network Rail’s extensive e-learning resources. I took this opportunity to learn about areas ranging from asset management and engineering access to earthworks, sustainability, weather resilience, GEORINM, systems engineering and telecommunications.
Combined with the opportunity to shadow different teams, this meant I could continually explore areas of the railway that interested me. If I encountered something unfamiliar during a meeting or site visit, there was usually an opportunity to learn more about it. This freedom to explore showed me how much I value being in an environment where I can continue learning and take on new challenges.
Alongside these experiences, my main internship project focused on the digitisation of the AMP process. I was given around six weeks to investigate the existing process and provide recommendations that could contribute to the future development of its digital platform. A large part of my project involved research. I analysed thousands of historical AMP forms and six years of records on AssetWise, using the data to identify trends and develop statistics around the existing process. I also gathered feedback from different stakeholders to understand their experiences and ensure that my recommendations considered the different perspectives involved.
One of the biggest challenges was getting responses and finding the right people to speak to within a large organisation. I realised that colleagues with years of experience were some of the most valuable resources available to me, which encouraged me to reach out, arrange meetings and ask more questions. In the final week, I was given the opportunity to present my project and my internship experience to my fellow interns and managers.
Although project management within the railway initially seemed quite different from Product Design Engineering, my project gave me the opportunity to apply transferable skills from my degree in a new context. I was able to combine engineering thinking with user research, data analysis and problem-solving to understand an existing process and identify opportunities for improvement
Looking back, one of the things I valued most was the freedom I had to learn. Whether that meant asking to sit in on a meeting, joining a site visit, completing a training module or simply asking someone about their role, there was always something new to discover.
The experience has developed both my technical knowledge and my confidence communicating with people from different professional backgrounds. It has also broadened my understanding of where an engineering degree can take me. I came into the internship knowing very little about the railway and left with a much greater appreciation for the people, engineering and planning required to keep it running.
I am incredibly grateful to my managers and everyone at Cadder depot who welcomed me into the Track Renewals team, as well as the other interns I shared the experience with. This internship experience was a great first step into my future career.
To anyone considering applying to the Saltire Scholars Programme, I would highly recommend it. Even if you don’t end up getting an internship, you will gain valuable practice with the assessment centre and interviews. A tip that I found helpful for my interview with Network Rail was to treat it like a conversation, be honest about your previous experiences (or lack thereof) and of course use the STAR method. Be curious, ask questions and say yes to opportunities that take you outside what you already know. Some of my most valuable experiences this summer were ones I could never have predicted when I first applied.
