Boris Johnson has announced plans for a ‘Crossrail Tunnelling Academy’ which he says will “provide Londoners with the chance to gain qualifications in a variety of roles essential to the project and to London’s economy in the coming years”.
Johnson will invest £8 million in the academy, which will be created in partnership with Crossrail and the construction industry and is expected to open in Spring 2010.
City Hall officials say the academy is expected to expected to train around 1000 people by 2015, providing the skills necessary for work in a variety of tunnelling roles.
Speaking on Monday, Johnson said: “I want to make sure that Londoners benefit from the opportunities that this scale of work – not seen in the Southeast for 50 years – can offer. That’s why, across the GLA group, we are cultivating hundreds of apprentices, working to spark young people’s interest in engineering, and are investing £8 million in the Tunnelling Academy, which will give many hundreds the skills necessary to be a part of the exciting and rewarding work of building London’s long-awaited Crossrail.”
