This is a test of GDPR / Cookie Acceptance [about our cookies]
Really irritating test - cookie expires in 24 hour!
Female train driver says some people are shocked - September 2024
As at 8th November 2024 14:50 GMT
 
Female train driver says some people are shocked - September 2024
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 19:55, 29th September 2024
 
From the BBC:



Gemma Deedat, from Fratton, has been a train driver for two years

A female train driver has said people are often shocked when they find out what she does for a living.

Gemma Deedat, from Fratton in Portsmouth, worked for the NHS and then as a conductor before she started driver training with South Western Railway (SWR) in 2020.

Only 8% of the company's drivers are women, which is in line with the national average.

Ms Deedat, who is part of the firm's new recruitment campaign for female drivers, said: "It is by far the best job I've done on the railway."


Ms Deedat is one of the female drivers who has shared their experiences in an SWR recruitment campaign

The mother from Hampshire has now been driving trains for two years and said often when she tells people what she does for a job they will say she is "the first lady train driver" they have met.  She said that although it is still a masculine environment she has never faced any animosity or prejudice while in the role.

"The railway is like one big family and everyone is very supportive of each other," Ms Deedat said.  She said she has made the shift work fit in around her children and family life.

Reflecting on her time as a driver, she said: "I just love being in the cab and seeing all of this lovely scenery, especially driving up through the South Downs and the wildlife, it is wonderful.  It feels great to know that you've got all of those people safely to their destinations."

Ms Deedat has shared her experiences in an SWR video campaign to encourage more women to join the rail industry.

SWR vacancies for trainees are set to open in Farnham, Fratton, Waterloo and Weymouth depots.  The organisation said female applicants do not need any previous rail experience.



 
The Coffee Shop forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western). The views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit https://www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules ( graham AT sn12.net ).

Although we are planning ahead, we don't know what the future will bring here in the Coffee Shop. We have domains "firstgreatwestern.info" for w-a-y back and also "greatwesternrailway.info"; we can also answer to "greatbritishrailways.info" too. For the future, information about Great Brisish Railways, by customers and for customers.
 
Current Running
GWR trains from JourneyCheck
 
Links in development

Member contributions
Recent new POSTS
Recent new THREADS
Popular Threads
Member Polls
Transport Diary
So far this month
Search for

Also on our site
About the forum
Whitelisted (public) documents
On this travel day
2B added - Individual Station Data

User site admin
Tailor your experience

Externnal Links
JourneyCheck
2B added - Live Station updates
2B added - Booking engine links
BBC news feed

Old site pages - active
About the Coffee Shop
Acronymns and Abbreviations

Old site pages - being replaced
BBC News Feed
Recent New Topics
Popular Threads
Members Polls
On this day
Diary
So far this month
Forum Home Page
 
Code Updated 13th September 2024
From https://greatwesternrailway.info/r29226.html - go insecure