Sydney Trains female apprentices step up amid local labour target

Female apprentices join Sydney Trains program, as more workers needed amid local labour target Sun 5 Jul 2026 at 7:03am Growing up, Ariana Gackowski built robots, programmed computers and constructed Lego with her dad. He first started a long career at Sydney Trains as one of their apprentices. Ms Gackowski is now hoping to do the same, enrolling in the same electrical apprenticeship her dad once did. "He worked high up and he started where I am as a fleet electrician," she said. One of her classmates, Nicola Huggins, changed tracks from a career in bookkeeping. Coming across the apprenticeship through a friend, Ms Huggins said she wanted a more hands-on career. "I've never really touched tools much before this so it's been great being able to use the big machines, the guillotine, the bender, the grinder; it's great," she said. From Ms Huggins's very first weeks at Sydney Trains, she relished the chance to get on the tools. "It was straight into the trains. I was underneath trains, I was on top of trains, I was inside trains." Often sharing a work bench, the pair are two of 30 women in this year's Sydney Trains apprentice intake. They have learned the wiring, welding and hand tool skills required to one day repair the trains Sydneysiders travel on every day. Just 6pc of railway track workers women Apprentices split their time between TAFE and the rail operator's maintenance centre in Auburn, tailoring a general certificate to a career in rail. They can choose from trades like signal electrician, rolling stock mechanical, signal fitter and automotive refinishing. Those types of jobs continued to be heavily male-dominated, with men making up 94 per cent of Australia's railway track workers and 97 per cent of its electricians. Ms Huggins said she was at first apprehensive to join a highly male-dominated program. "It was a pretty big decision for me," she said. "But I was just straight over in the warehouse, straight in with the crew and everyone was really nice and friendly." Women now make up more than 11 per cent of all Sydney Trains apprentices, with that number growing year on year. More apprentices needed amid local labour target As train manufacturing moved offshore over the past decade, investment in the next generation of workers dried up. The state's upgraded intercity trains, the Mariyung Fleet, were built in South Korea and a new Regional Rail Fleet is currently being built in Spain. However, the NSW government is pushing for more local production on future projects. It plans to replace the network's suburban passenger trains, the Tangara Fleet, from early next year, committing to a target of 50 per cent local labour. However, widespread trade shortages are putting those plans at risk. Electricians, fitters and railway track workers are all listed on the NSW Occupation Shortage List. Minister for Transport John Graham said the state had "simply stopped investing in apprentices". "We want to build more trains here, we want to invest in the reliability of our rail network but we need the people to do it,"he said. There are 97 first-year apprentices at Sydney Trains, bringing the total cohort to a record high of 270. "The sorts of things that maybe in the days gone by, people would have tinkered with on weekends with their mums and dads, we've now got apprentices in the digital age," said Sydney Trains CEO Matt Longland. Ms Huggins plans to stay in the field for the foreseeable future, hoping to move around within Sydney Trains after finishing her apprenticeship. "I kind of just want to try everything." Ms Gackowski envisions one day becoming an engineer or a train technician, but for now was enjoying the satisfaction of learning basic skills. "You're so happy once you complete the job and you're proud of yourself, so it's good."