A third of new train drivers are women, says rail company

Avanti West Cost said it was on track to increase the percentage of new female trainee recruits to 50 per cent over the next five years.

The company said it had seen a big increase in female applicants following a campaign which honoured the first woman train driver.

The inter-city operator received 1,000 applications from women following the initiative in 2023, resulting in a near-60 per cent increase in the number of female trainee drivers.

he back of the unveiling of a mural at London Euston station of Karen Harrison, the first woman to be appointed a train driver by Briitsh Rail in 1979.

One of the recruits encouraged by the 26ft by 16ft mural, painted by the artist Akse, is Marta Filipiuk.

Marta was working at a warehouse in Milton Keynes, near her home in Bletchley, when she saw the Karen Harrison campaign, and decided to apply to be a train driver.

Previously she drove a minicab for eight years and her interest in the railway was sparked after chatting to a train driver instructor from Glasgow who was her passenger one day.

She said: “I had dreamt about becoming a train driver after meeting an instructor a few years ago when I was driving minicabs. That was when this world opened up to me, so when I saw the Karen Harrison mural and read that Avanti West Coast were recruiting female train drivers – I knew that now was my moment and I went for it.”

Marta started her training in April 2024, and is three quarters of the way through her course. When completed, she will be a fully qualified train driver, accomplishing a huge goal and aspiration in her life. She hopes for more women to follow in her footsteps, adding: “If you are interested and think you it could be for you, then just go for it. I am so glad I took the jump because this has been the best working year of my life. I consider myself the luckiest person alive as every day I’m living my dream job as a train driver – I don’t want to do anything else.”

The operator extended the deadline for new applicants to a week, rather than the more usual 48 hours, after research showed women typically took a couple of weeks to apply for a new job.

The campaign also attracted 9,000 applications from men. All successful applicants are added to a 'talent bank', where they await a driver training course start date at their preferred location.

Jo MacPhail, of Avanti West Coast said: “This was about starting a movement towards having equality across our new train driver recruits, and we are really pleased that we achieved what we set out to do and more.  

"We’re on track to hit our target of 50 per cent female trainee driver recruits by 2030 and we are really proud and overjoyed that this campaign played a huge part.”

Mick Whelan, General Secretary of train drivers' union Aslef, said: “Karen Harrison was a pioneer, a passionate feminist, and trade union activist, who blazed a path for other women to join the railway.

“It’s great that she has helped inspire a new generation of train driver trainees, because we think train drivers should represent the communities we serve and that’s why we need more women in the driver’s cab.”