ONE of the few female train drivers working for Greater Anglia has revealed her pride at helping break down stereotypes as she urges more women to join the industry.

While women make up a quarter of Greater Anglia’s 3,000-strong workforce, only eight per cent of the 805 mainline train drivers are women.

Lottie Hart, a Greater Anglia depot driver at the Southend Victoria depot, has been a driver since October 2022, and is now urging other women to consider joining the industry.

She said: “It doesn’t matter what gender you are. On the railway, you do your training and if you can fulfil the role and concentrate, you are suitable.

“Everyone has been welcoming. There are so many avenues within Greater Anglia that you can go on and do regardless of who you are.

“I am very proud to be where I am. I have got daughters so when I said that I am going to be an actual train driver, I feel like they are proud of me too.”

Lottie followed in her father’s footsteps to join the railway industry, where he has worked for the past 20 years.

She was part of the cabin crew for easyJet before the airline left Southend Airport.

Greater Anglia aims to attract more women into the job through a series of special events.

Last week’s event saw 25 female employees learn about the tests and skills required to become a train driver. Prospective drivers were also able to try their hand at “driving” a train on state-of-the-art simulators.

Katy Bucknell, HR director at Greater Anglia, said: “Historically, the role of the train driver has always been correlated with a male person but you can be any gender to undertake that role and it is important that we break down that stereotype.

“Days like this give our female colleagues a chance to look at the recruitment and training process and we hope that it will increase our applications for female train drivers in the company.”

The female driver information event is part of Greater Anglia’s diversity and inclusion strategy, which sees the company working year-round to make itself a better and more inclusive place to work.

All jobs available at Greater Anglia can be found on the website, under the careers section.