The female driver event at Stratford Academy. Credit: Greater Anglia The train simulator. Credit: Greater Anglia Train operator Greater Anglia has held a special event to encourage more women to become train drivers. Almost 40 women who currently work for the operator in a variety of roles including ticket office staff, conductors and train cleaners attended the bespoke event at Stratford Academy on 18 November. The group found out about life in the depot, tried their hand at driving a train on the simulator, and took part in a Q&A session with nine of Greater Anglia’s current female drivers. They also learned about the recruitment process and assessments. Across the railway, 16% of roles are currently filled by women, a figure which the industry is working to increase. Earlier this year, Greater Anglia held two female driver events on International Women’s Day. Katy Bucknell, Greater Anglia HR Director, said: “Our female driver event is very popular, and we have seen a 67% increase in applications as a result. Every year we are seeing more and more women applying for train driver roles and this event was a great opportunity for people to find out more about what the job entails. “Currently 7% of Greater Anglia’s train drivers are female, which has increased from 5% over the last couple of years. We really want to boost this number and attract more women to the industry. “Some of our female drivers have been here for decades, but we are always looking to recruit more women. We want women to know that being a train driver is a great career choice – the railway is a great place to work and offers several benefits.” Greater Anglia is working to progress a sex and gender network group following the development of an initial women in rail forum which delivered a range of different development sessions for all employees. This included inspirational women in leadership discussions, developmental webinars on imposter syndrome, emotional intelligence, building personal brand and menopause awareness, all of which continue to run throughout the year.
