Siemens Mobility Ltd has selected Selby College as the training partner for its future £200 million production plant in Goole, and has already received 200 applications for the first 12 apprentice roles.

The apprentices will be the first of up to 700 employees for the plant. As part of a comprehensive three-year training programme beginning in September they will spend their first year developing core engineering skills at Selby College. In the second year they will spend one day a week at the college and four days on placement at Siemens Mobility facilities and also spend four weeks training at the National Training Academy for Rail in Northampton.

The third year will be split between a six-month placement at Siemens Mobility’s German Metro Centre of Excellence in Wien and joining the first intake of employees at Goole in 2023.

The majority of applicants for the Level 3 Rail Technician Apprenticeship positions were from East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

Sambit Banerjee, rolling stock and customer services managing director, said: “The number and quality of applications indicates the level of interest in this incredibly exciting project. The demand for these entry-level opportunities bodes well for future recruitment for a wide range of manufacturing, engineering and associated roles as the project continues to move forward.”