Aliyya Swaby Photo
Savarino, third from right, was attracted to the long history of train jobs.
Steve Hardy.
Hillhouse High School graduate Steve Hardy enrolled in Gateway’s new railroad engineering program because of the projected spike in jobs available in the industry.
Hardy, who will graduate from the new two-year program this fall, was one of several students and alumni to talk with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy Wednesday about why they decided to study trains and what they hoped the job field will look like once they graduated.
Malloy used the occasion to call for an expanded, four-track train system, more robust bus system and renovated network of highways and bridges as part of a $100 billion, 30-year transportation upgrade he’s proposing. He’s seeking a state constitutional amendment to create a “lockbox” assuring that new tax revenue raised for the upgrade wouldn’t be spent on other uses instead. “The decades of taking money out of transportation and spending it somewhere else has got to end,” he said. “We do that, and the vision I’ve laid out can absolutely be accomplished.”
Gateway started its railroad engineering program in 2013, with support from Metro North Railroad, a partner of the college since 2009.
Hardy said he chose to enroll in the program after hearing Federal Railroad Administration officials explain train accidents across the country as resulting from human error. They said employees were overworked since there were not enough people to perform needed jobs.
The hiring projections in the train engineering sector prompted him to head to Gateway. Once he graduates, he hopes to head to Central Connecticut State University to obtain a bachelors in engineering.
Since 2012, the rate of attrition at Metro North has skyrocketed, with many employees retiring or leaving their jobs, said Katherine Betries-Kendall, the railroad’s vice president of human resources. More than 100 opportunities will be available in technical railroad engineering positions this year, she said.
There is a “direct pipeline” between the program and Metro North jobs, she said.
Malloy, at right, on the panel.
Why trains? Malloy asked each of the students on the panel.
Most said they heard it was a sector with more than enough jobs for qualified applicants.
Christian Savarino, who graduated from the program recently, said he was attracted to the long history of railroad jobs. He was attracted to the idea of “working with a bunch of good guys, getting a job done and making a living out of it,” he said.
An older student, Martin Burke, who is 52, currently has a job at AT&T, where he has survived wave after wave of layoffs for 29 years. “I won’t survive the next one,” he said. He has one daughter in college and another who is on the way to college. “I’m trying to be proactive,” he said.
Ryan James called himself a “first generation railroader” who has always been “fascinated” with trains. “Hopefully, I can work my way up the tracks to making it a career,” he said.
“How many of you plan on a four-year engineering degree?” Malloy asked. Some, not all. Burke said he is taking his education one class at a time.
Yvonne Hill Donald, Metro North deputy director of human resources, said many of the jobs opening up are extremely specialized and require higher education. “I strongly encourage all of you to finish your education,” she said. “We’re looking for engineers.”