Railway Track Master

The purpose of this qualification is to provide qualifying learners with the knowledge, understanding, competence and experience required to operate as a Railway Track Master. A Railway Track Master constructs, aligns, repairs, and maintains permanent way infrastructure, components, and associated works to ensure the safe running of trains. A qualified learner will be able to: • Construct, maintain and rehabilitate basic and specialised railway lines and per-way elements. • Prepare, join and repair basic and specialised rail tracks and track components. • Inspect, plan, and coordinate the construction and maintenance of permanent railway lines. In addition, learner attributes (including problem solving, decision making, interpreting and communicating information and applying essential methods and techniques) will be integrated in the learning process. Learners will have to prove competence of the above knowledge, skills, attitudes, responsibilities, and tasks imbedded in the exit level outcomes.

The need for this qualification stems from the fact that "Railway Track Master" is recorded as a Trade (SAQA ID 96355). Currently there are two registered qualifications related to this Trade, i.e., SAQA ID 49795; National Certificate: Rail Construction and Maintenance; NQF Level 3 and SAQA ID 61670 Further Education and Training Certificate: Railway Construction and Maintenance; NQF Level 4. The Occupational Certificate: Railway Track Master is required for the recorded trade and to replace the mentioned existing unit standard based qualifications. Railway Track Masters have been identified as a scarce skill in the Transport sector. The development of railway infrastructure is a key driver for economic development. In South Africa, one of the barriers to accelerated economic development is the provisioning of cost effective and reliable mass transport systems for both freight and passenger services. A key strategy in the National Development Plan is the improvement and proper maintenance of infrastructure. Currently and in the future, there is a need for skills and abilities to build and maintain an ever-growing railway network. This qualification is targeted at providing the fundamental human resource capabilities required to deliver this strategy and will thus benefit the sector society and the economy. Typical learners likely to be attracted to this qualification are the out of school youth with limited formal qualifications as well as workers in the rail sector interested in working mainly outdoors and aspiring to obtain formal recognition for skills and knowledge. Learners entering this trade will exit with an NQF Level 4 trade which will be internationally accepted as entry into related careers and/or further studies within the Civil Engineering Construction field. This qualification will contribute to the full development of the learner by providing recognition, further mobility, and transportability within the sector. This qualification forms part of a suite of related qualifications (originally developed as part-qualifications but which had to be registered separately) to create an occupational pathway with several options to follow, each resulting in employment opportunities in areas of specialisation. In addition, this qualification also includes a part-qualification specifically to enable learners with any of the associated qualifications to further specialise. Learners wishing to follow such a route will be granted recognition for modules already completed (CAT). These qualifications include the Occupational Certificate: Railway Track Welder, NQF Level 3; Occupational Certificate: Railway Track Constructor, NQF Level 3. The relationship and career path opportunities between the various qualifications are quite complex and is outlined in detail in the various curricula. The part-qualification Occupational Certificate: Railway Track Supervisor NQF Level 4 will provide learners who have completed either the Occupational Certificate: Railway Track Welder, NQF Level 3 or Occupational Certificate: Railway Track Constructor, NQF Level 3 an opportunity for career progression.

• Prepare railway tracks and track components and apply specific welding and joining techniques to construct, maintain and repair rail tracks and track components demonstrating a fundamental understanding of related principles, theories, and safety requirements.
• Apply civil construction processes and techniques to construct, maintain and rehabilitate railway lines and associated per-way elements demonstrating a fundamental understanding of established standards.
• Inspect, plan, and manage rail construction and maintenance projects and processes, applying key terms, rules, concepts, established principles and theories and health and safety requirements.