A YORK-BASED rail company is throwing a jobs lifeline to up to 150 miners facing redundancy with the closure of the Selby coalfield.

Jarvis Rail has launched a major initiative to retrain miners and equip them with new skills for work on the railways.

The Selby pit complex is due to shut next spring, throwing more than 2,000 miners out of work.

The project to give some of them replacement jobs in the railway industry is being organised by Jarvis in partnership with the European Social Fund, Coalfield Regeneration Trust and Jobcentre Plus.

The Jarvis initiative was today hailed by Selby MP John Grogan as a "big boost" for the miners. He said he was "strongly hopeful" there would be further similar announcements by other companies later in the year. Jarvis says the coal and rail industries are particularly well-aligned, with strong safety cultures, transferable skills and emphasis on engineering excellence and hard work.

"Working closely with the Selby Coalfield Task Force, Jarvis has put together an investment, training and employment package which will take up to 150 former workers from the Selby pits through the programme between May 2003 and 2005," said a spokesman.

"Initial training will take place at a state-of-the-art, multimedia equipped training centre which Jarvis is developing on the site of the closed colliery at North Selby."

He said that once this initial training hads been completed, each worker would be competent and certificated to meet the railway's rigorous standards.

There would then be a period of practical training on the track, using close personal supervision involving experienced railwaymen from Jarvis.

"Jarvis is already a major employer in the region but we are continually in need of new people with the right skills," said the spokesman. "Selby's miners look like natural Jarvis employees to me, with their focus on safety, technical abilities and work ethic."

Mr Grogan said: "This is very welcome news and a big boost.

"Up to 150 jobs is a significant proportion of the 2,000 that will be lost with the coalfield closure, although there are still more jobs to be found.

"I have been very closely involved with Lord Haskins, of the Coalfield Task Force. Obviously, the hope is to provide good, high-quality, decently-paid jobs. I am determined that, given that we have bought a bit of time, we should avoid what happened with the coalfield closures of the 1980s, when people were thrown on the unemployment scrapheap.

"It helps that the local economy is reasonably strong. I am strong hopeful that there will be similar announcements from other companies later this year."

Updated: 13:46 Friday, March 14, 2003