California authority launches website for high-speed rail training

The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) and Selma, California, officials yesterday launched a website to ramp up recruitment efforts for the first cohort of the Central Valley Training Center program. 

The training center provides pre-apprenticeship classes and hands-on construction industry training for Central Valley residents interested in working on California’s high-speed rail project, CHSRA officials said in a press release.

The training center will provide students 16 weeks of classroom instruction to help fulfill the labor force training requirements for the project. The website will enable students to review the training program’s qualifications and sign up for classes scheduled to start Oct. 5.

“The authority is committed to putting people to work and giving them the tools and training needed to succeed on the construction site,” said CHSRA Board Member Henry Perea.

Strict physical distancing measurements will be enforced while providing students hands-on shop training and instructional courses taught by skilled craftspeople in the trades, CHRSA officials said.

Industry-specific certifications, along with job placement assistance, will be provided to all graduating students of the program through coordination with the high-speed rail project and its contractors.