Talk to people about working in the rail industry and they assume that you are either a mechanic or a train driver. There is also the perception that it is a “male” industry. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The rail industry offers a wide variety of career opportunities, all suitable to women and men. The sad reality, however, is that rail is one of the most gender-equal industries in the world.

In Africa, only 10% of the rail workforce is female. In South Africa, 83,3% of the transport workforce is male. Globally, only 2% of women in the rail industry are engineers.

And we want to change this, starting with our own company. We have noted the gender disparities in our sector, and we believe the industry needs to be intentional about correcting gender imbalances in its workforce and actively campaign to bring about change.