A third of Avanti West Coast’s new trainee driver recruits are women following trailblazing recruitment campaign

• One in three new Avanti West Coast train driver recruits are women after campaign which honoured first female train driver.
• The intercity operator received 1,000 applications from women on the back of the initiative in 2023.
• There has been an increase in the number of female trainee drivers by nearly 60%.

One third of new Avanti West Coast trainee driver recruits are women as a result of its awarding winning recruitment campaign.

This number has increased from one in five, showing that the intercity operator is on track to match its pledge of increasing the percentage of new female trainee recruits to 50 percent by 2030.

Over 1,000 applications were received from women as part of the campaign which was launched in 2023 – one and half times the amount from the last three years combined.

The campaign was launched on the back of the unveiling of a mural at London Euston station of Karen Harrison, one of the UK's first female train drivers.

The 8 x 5 metre permanent mural, which was painted by the artist Akse, celebrates Karen, who led the charge for female train drivers in 1979 and highlights her story to encourage more women to follow in her footsteps.

Since this campaign, Avanti West Coast has increased its number of trainee female train drivers by nearly 60%. One of new driver recruits who was inspired by Karen’s legacy, 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 campaign saw Avanti West Coast launch the rail industry’s first ever recruitment chatbot, which was designed to be a light-hearted way of engaging with potential applicants about what it takes to be a train driver.

The operator also used HR insights which highlights that on average women will take a couple of weeks to apply for a new job. As a result, job applications were opened a month after the Karen Harrison campaign launched, and they were kept open for a week rather than the standard 24 to 48 hours – which was another industry first.

It wasn’t just successful for women, as the operator saw a record number of over 9,000 applications from men. All applicants that are successful at interview are added to a talent bank, where they await a driver training course start date at their preferred location.

Jo MacPhail, People Director at 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% 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 ASLEF, the train drivers’ union, 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.”

Amanda Webster-Uz, Head of Euston Station Operations at Network Rail said: "We're really proud to support Avanti West Coast’s campaign to boost female train driver applications by hosting the mural of the first female driver, Karen Harrison, here at Euston station.

“As we celebrate International Women's Day, it's important to remind women that the railway is a fantastic place to work and we want to encourage more women to apply for roles across the industry."

ENDS