Those training at Network Rail’s Gresley Institute are benefiting from immersive simulation technology.

The centre in Doncaster is a celebration of Sir Nigel Gresley, born 150 years ago today.

The centre is on track to be able to train up to 1,000 colleagues every year, through a range of classrooms and equipment.

The simulators at the centre feature both lever-pull models and modern systems with visual display units.

The centre now has another custom-built simulation, known as Immersiv, and will train mobile operations managers.

“When I first started this training, it was a PowerPoint projection for three days. You sat there, did a test paper, and when you passed it was: ‘Congratulations, you can now attend major incidents.’

“But as technology has come on, so has the training. This set-up gives a much more blended approach because it’s interactive. It puts people as close to a real-life situation as you can get without being out on track. It’s an immersive, safe environment where they can make mistakes and learn from them.

“We can set up any kind of scenario as a challenge and change conditions like the time of day or weather to make dealing with incidents even more complex.

“We’ve showcased the system to many people, and everyone who sees it is impressed and can immediately see the benefits to our training. Anyone who visits the centre wants to try it out!”

Malcolm Johnson-Chappell, a lead trainer at Network Rail