There are high levels of training reported by companies in the passenger transport sector:

• 65% of large companies organised training for their employees
• 81% of micro-businesses

These levels have increased over the last few years across both England and Scotland.  In the English regions the highest levels of training took place in Yorkshire and the Humber (84%) and the South West (81%).  Training is more common in urban areas than rural.

The training provided deals with job specific issues and aspects of health and safety.  Customer service training was the most common training identified with about two thirds of all companies providing training in this area.  Only 45% of large companies and 15% of micro companies offered driving training to their employees.  There is little evidence that training to improve IT skills is provided.

There are a number of rail focused private training providers, including for example the Association of Rail Training Providers (ARTP).  However, there are fewer transport specific providers for passenger transport other industries.  It is estimated that there are about 1,100 training providers engaged with the passenger transport sector across the whole of the UK.

Source: GoSkills Skills Needs Assessment (stage 1) 2006a and GoSkills Analysis of Provision 2006b