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On Friday, CSX Transportation plans to open the Railroad Education and Development Institute (REDI), an $8 million consolidated training center adjacent to Tilford Yard in Atlanta.

CSXT instructors expect to train more than 3,500 locomotive engineers, conductors, track and signal technicians, mechanics and yardmasters annually at the new facility. Instructors also will use REDI to provide courses for management trainees and help develop field managers' skills. Field training exercises will be conducted at the adjacent yard.

CSXT currently trains locomotive engineers in Cumberland, Md.; conductors in Atlanta, Cleveland and Jacksonville, Fla.; track engineers in Barboursville, W.Va.; and train control personnel in Barboursville and Savannah, Ga. REDI will enable the Class I — which plans to hire more than 2,000 people in those crafts this year — to reduce the time between training and starting a job, cut travel and lodging expenses, and expose students specializing in one craft to another.

"We can uniformly provide students with the technical background and safety consciousness necessary to be successful and safe in their railroad careers," said CSX Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael Ward in a prepared statement.

For more information on REDI, see Progressive Railroading's January issue, page 6.