Plans for RailSchool have been drawn up over the past year, and are backed by the London Borough of Newham, Newham College and the Learning & Skills Council. The first students are due to arrive later this month and will be taught skills to help them gain National Vocational Qualifications and meet the need for thousands of new recruits on Britain's rail network. Transport for London and train operators Southeastern, C2C and Eurostar are supporting the initiative.

As part of the scheme a classic British Rail locomotive - Class 50 diesel locomotive No. 50033 Glorious - is being lent to RailSchool indefinitely by STEAM - the Museum of the Great Western Railway at Swindon.

RailSchool chief executive Neil Howard, a former senior manager with British Rail, said: "We are deeply moved by the generosity of STEAM and Swindon Borough Council in entrusting Glorious to this project. It will be arriving as a working diesel locomotive, and will be a vital part of RailSchool. This is about creating a working railway which will launch thousands of young people on new careers over the next few years. There’s nothing else like this in Britain, and the closure of the railway between North Woolwich and Custom House last year provided a unique opportunity. Railways in London rarely close, and we are grabbing this very special opportunity with both hands. We will also be using the line for heritage trains soon, adding to the tourist assets in this exciting and fast-regenerating part of Docklands, and relaunching the railway museum at North Woolwich, too. The arrival of Glorious is just the start."

The North London Line between North Woolwich and Stratford closed on 9 December 2006, but the section between North Woolwich and Custom House is safeguarded for the Crossrail project. RailSchool and the Royal Docks Heritage Railway - which runs heritage train services and recently took over running of the transport museum at North Woolwich from Newham council - will mean that the railway will be well used in the meantime, rather than becoming derelict. Most of the rest of the line onwards to Stratford is being converted for an extension of the Docklands Light Railway, including a new link with Stratford International station, which is due to open in 2010.