Only 16 per cent of women on average work in the rail industry (Picture: PA)

Three passenger trains will today be run by all-female crews in a bid to encourage more women to consider a career in the rail industry.

London North Eastern Railway (LNER), Southeastern and Great Western Railway (GWR) will operate the female-only services on Friday to mark International Women’s Day. The move comes after 85 per cent of women revealed they have never considered a career in rail, found a LNER poll of almost 900.

An LNER train from Edinburgh to London King’s Cross will have all six of its onboard roles filled by women, including the driver, train manager and chef. The Flying Scotsman service will also be rebranded Flying Scotswoman for the rest of March.



Director Karen Lewis said the industry needs to work harder to promote itself to women and create a more diverse team.


Driver Tori Weightman looks out from the cab of The Flying Scotswoman (Picture: PA)

The all-female crew take a selfie before their journey from Edinburgh Waverley (Picture: PA)

She said: ‘There is a clear need for the industry to work together to demonstrate the unique opportunities on offer with a career in rail, and by doing so to help drive an increase in the number of women in the workplace’.

LNER has a female workforce of 42 per cent compared to an industry average of just 16 per cent.

‘Our diverse workforce is something we’re extremely proud of at LNER and we’re working hard to inspire and attract even more talented women to join the industry,’ she added.

Southeastern Managing Director David Statham said: ‘The fact today’s female train is one of the first shows how much more the rail industry needs to do to and we will continue working with partners like Network Rail to achieve this.’

He added that the company has made ‘considerable progress’ in attracting more women to the industry and 20 per cent of their workforce is female.

Three rail companies will have all-women crews operating their services (Picture: PA)

The move has been done to encourage more women to consider a career in the rail industry (Picture: PA)

Mr Statham said he was ‘honoured’ to offer a service from London Victoria to Faversham, Kent, run by 15 women, including a driver, conductor and Network Rail signallers.

Director of diversity and inclusion at Network Rail, Loraine Martins, said companies need to get the ‘basics right’ first and are working to help women on the front line of the job.

She said: ‘We’ve made positive strides in the last five years, such as introducing maternity buddying and introducing a women in leadership programme to ensure that more women are being considered for senior positions’.

A GWR train from Bristol to London Paddington will also have an all-female crew today.

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