Watco Safe Performance Center

The Watco Safe Performance Center (formerly the Watco STAT Center) is an employee safety training center operated by the Pittsburg, Kansas-based Watco Transportation Services at their Birmingham Terminal Railroad facility at 1350 Watco Way in Fairfield.

The STAT Center (for "Safety Through Awareness and Training") first opened on May 22, 2017. It houses classrooms, smaller conference spaces, a simulator room, a model railroad set-up, and a hands-on training area with a cutaway railcar and other equipment. 120 to 140 employees from across Watco's national footprint come to Fairfield each year for 3-week "Ground School" safety training courses for engineers and 2-week courses for conductors. Watco planned to make their programs available to other short-line operators as well.

In 2022 Watco constructed a $3 million, 11,000 square-foot addition to the Safe Performance Center which would allow it to train as many as 150 employees at a time.

References

• "Watco opens national training center in Birmingham." (May 23, 2017) Alabama NewsCenter
• O'Leary, A. J. (May 19, 2022) "Watco expands training center." Birmingham Business Journal