With its massive economy, the nation’s largest state population, and critical supply chains and intermodal hubs, California holds vast potential for rail expansion and innovation. To some extent, this potential has been capitalized. Bold private and public-sector infrastructure projects – including Caltrain electrification, the Barstow International Gateway, and the City of Los Angeles’s car-free Olympic Games in 2028 – all demonstrate broad recognition of the power of freight and passenger rail investment. At the same time, critical workforce development challenges remain unaddressed. In fact, while much ink has been spilt regarding obstacles posed by all manner of issues – zoning, permitting, financing rules, environmental regulations – the rail workforce and its future haven’t received equivalent attention. From experience, we know that workforce shortages and insufficiencies today lead to project delays tomorrow.
California already has nationally significant workforce development models that demonstrate how education, training, and workforce development initiatives can be aligned with rail industry needs. The Rail Academy of Central California (TRACC) reflects a strategic partnership between a regional rail commission, a community college, and public and private rail operators that prepares students for careers in freight and passenger rail operations through industry-informed curriculum and hands-on training at active rail facilities. The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 265’s Joint Workforce Investment (JWI) initiative reflects the strength of labor-management partnerships. California has numerous successful logistics workforce education programs that could also provide a model for the rail industry, including the Academy of Global Logistics at Cabrillo High School and the Global Logistics Professional certification, both housed in Long Beach. Models like these hold considerable potential in connecting emerging rail professionals with promising career opportunities in designing, developing, operating, and maintaining the future rail infrastructure in California. The question before us concerns the ways in which the models and programs we have already can be improved, scaled, and replicated statewide to meet the demands of industry.
To ensure that the California workforce is prepared to meet the ever-increasing freight volumes on the one hand and the demands of ambitious passenger rail expansion on the other, strategic talent-pipeline programs must be implemented across the state to address widespread retirements and new skills gaps associated with transformational technologies. Workforce development pressures are intensifying as California transitions to battery-electric and hydrogen-powered locomotives, especially in railyards, ports, and trade corridors. Zero-emission freight rail introduces entirely new skill requirements, including high-voltage systems, energy storage, hydrogen handling, fueling and charging infrastructure, and advanced diagnostics. At the same time, new safety and efficiency technologies—such as Positive Train Control (PTC), drones, and data-driven asset management—are changing how freight railroads operate and maintain their networks.