Open day shows off the UK’s ‘best equipped signalling training centre’

Delegates from the British rail industry recently had the opportunity to visit a revitalised signalling training centre in Derby which the owners claim is the best equipped in the country.

Months of work moving equipment from Crewe culminated in an open day held by Catalis Training at its base on London Road.

This is the latest development on the site which started life in 1938 as the London, Midland and Scottish Railway Company’s School of Transport, part of which recently became the Derby Conference Centre.

When Network Rail decided to do signalling maintenance work in house it took around half of the equipment from the Catalis base at Crewe.

Having looked at the market, Catalis has repositioned itself to deal in the design, testing, installation and commissioning work of signalling for this country, Ireland and abroad.

Over ninth months, equipment at Crewe was dismantled, brought to Derby, and installed at the site, which was once the main training centre for the UK rail industry. Other equipment went to the company’s training base at Clapham, London.

Redevelopment work at the Derby site has included rebuilding the test track which had fallen into disrepair, complete with all types of modern point switching equipment and full-size signalling gantries.

Catalis has invested £250,000 in bringing the equipment to Derby and setting it up in full working order.

Four trainers have also relocated to Derby to lead the courses which are being developed and expanded to meet the various needs and demands of the industry.

Catalis has an annual turnover of £2.5m in training in signalling work, which involves thousands of students each year.

Equipment ranges includes relay interlocking, solid state interlocking, level crossing control systems and sophisticated train detection and point operating equipment. Indeed

Catalis is the only private signalling training company with full HPSS point operating equipment with delivery endorsed by IAD rail systems. They also have a wide range of Telecomms courses including CCTV and fibre optic transmission and cable jointing.

Paul McLoughlin, managing director of Catalis Training, said: “We now have in Derby what we believe to be the best equipped signalling training centre in the UK.

“This development re-establishes Derby as the leading rail training centre in the UK”.

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