Controlling the Vectron locomotive unaidedly – the eight new apprentices of the Wiener Lokalbahnen Cargo (WLC) will have to wait for this until spring 2017. Their training as train drivers started in April and lasts 10 months. The first part consists in a dense training program including requirements and intermediate examinations. This is followed by a practical training at the Wiener Lokalbahnen Cargo.
For the Wiener Lokalbahnen Cargo the training of train driver students is nothing new. But having eight apprentices at a time is a definite novelty. The train driver students received the first part of their training at LogServ, a company which is WLC’s training partner for the theoretical training because of their railway academy.
The theoretical training is followed by the practical part, where the locomotives of WLC are used. In this practical part, which is performed by the specialists of the WLC, the students can train with the locomotives 1116, 1216, 193 and V100, on infrastructure throughout Austria. The standard routes for loaded container trains run along the Danube to Germany and Hungary and also to the Italian border at Tarvis.
Experienced colleagues accompany the students during this time and teach them all the important details. The first unaided trip of the future train drivers will take place at the earliest in February 2017.
Wiener Lokalbahnen Cargo primarily organizes block train transports in combined transport across Europe. In addition, the transnational transport of conventional wagonloads in block trains increasingly expands the range of services. With more than 5,000 freight trains per year across Europe and around 100 employees in Austria and Germany, the company has grown to become the second largest Austrian provider in rail freight.
