Ensuring the rails are inclusive equitable and gender balanced

The new Chair of Women in Rail Christine Fernandes discusses her passion to give something back to the rail industry

Women in Rail (WR) has entered a new chapter in its role in improving gender balance, equality, diversity and inclusion in the UK rail industry.

Former Chair Adeline Ginn MBE has stepped down nearly a decade after founding the organisation, with Christine Fernandes taking over the reins.

Christine, who works in Business Development at CAF, describes it as a privilege but one with a great deal of responsibility – a challenge she is relishing.

“I am absolutely delighted to have been appointed Chair, and to lead Women in Rail into the next chapter of its development, it is certainly a great privilege,” she said.

“When I was interviewed by the board, I just spoke from the heart about what I thought should be the direction of Women in Rail and the steps required to get there.

Looking to the future “Adeline has left a great legacy for me to build on and I am looking forward to the challenge and opportunity to shape and influence the future, even more so in the times of change within the industry and world post-COVID.”

Christine, who will be supported by Vice Chair Shona Clive, has been involved in the work of the WR charity since 2018, both as part of the London Regional Group and latterly as the Regional Leader for Wales.

Through my career I have faced some challenging aspects in a male-orientated environment

“Through my career I have faced some challenging aspects in a maleorientated environment, and while there is acknowledgement and improvement, there is still a lot more to be done,” said Christine, who joined the industry as a British Railways Board sponsored Undergraduate Engineering Management Trainee.

She has more than 25 years’ experience in the industry and a Master’s degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Newcastle University.

“I come from a minority background both in terms of my ethnicity, but also as a female engineer so it is my experiences that fuel my drive for change.

“I am tenacious so I was never particularly unnerved by my experiences, however, this industry has got a lot to offer and we need to ensure it is inclusive, equitable and gender balanced.”

Passion and experience Christine is passionate about the rail industry and during her career has gained expertise in manufacturing, leasing, operations, track and consulting. Among her many achievements, Christine was awarded Chartered Engineer status some 20 years ago, along with an MBA in 2003.

“The railway is an integral part of my life and I have been incredibly lucky to have and continue to have an amazing diverse career from it.

“I want to give something back, to leave a legacy behind that will be for the benefit and good of the future of the industry – the role of Chair of Women in Rail is that opportunity,” she said.

“Having studied engineering at university I was one of very few women on my course, so my expectations of gender balance in the industry were set quite low from the outset.

“Interestingly I was looking at some old pictures from my very first appointment in the technical office.

“The picture was in our office of two work colleagues and in the background there was a pin-up calendar. It got me thinking that I used to go to work and sit and look at that calendar and think nothing of it because it was just how it was.

“I have occasionally in meetings, when attending with male colleagues, been mistakenly assumed as the secretary/assistant and asked to make the tea. On one occasion I did play along but then took the opportunity to turn the tables as chair of the meeting to put them in their place! But seriously, this is not what it should have been about.”

Changing momentum Things are changing and there is now momentum and that is largely in part down to the work of Women in Rail, its members and supporters. The organisation was born out of Adeline’s frustration with the low numbers of women in the railways.

From a standing start, the organisation has grown to provide networking opportunities and support for women within the sector, encourage undertakings and stakeholders to adopt diversity as a business strategy, and devise initiatives aimed at positioning rail as an attractive career choice for young people.

I have certainly seen a lot of change and there are now the support networks for women

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“I have certainly seen a lot of change and there are now the support networks for women, but there are still issues about how women can progress and more so in senior and executive positions – for me there is still not enough transparency around this,” Christine said.

“Certainly, if you move into the senior sphere it really seems to be a case of what you know and who you know rather than it being advertised so everybody has an opportunity.

“I think the environment has changed particularly when it comes to the basics such as ladies’ toilets and sanitary products and things like that – these things didn’t exist in the workplace when I first joined. It is also now not so much of a novelty to see a female on the shop floor.”

Despite the progress made, Christine says there is a great deal of work to be done.

“In the longer term we need to reinforce the rail industry as an attractive career route ensuring we continue to provide an outlet that underpins and supports professional development, confidence, and new opportunity,” she said.

Structure and voice “The work of Adeline and the team over the past decade has given a structure and a voice to how women are treated in the railway and we have to continue to build on that – it is getting great traction.” In a WR survey in 2015, it was found that of the railway’s estimated 85,723 workers, just 14,024 are women.

“We’re working with the Railway Industry Association (RIA) on the EDI Charter, but for me it is particularly important that we work hard to address the gender balance because there’s still a lot of work to be done.

“As it stands, just over 13 per cent of the workforce are female – that percentage is even lower moving to senior roles. We need to make sure it is more inclusive in all departments of the industry.

“To achieve that we’ll be looking to engage with Great British Railways as we think we can offer some insight into how we can work with them to improve the figures and bring that gender diversity and equality on board.” WR currently has more than 7,500 members, with nine regions in England, Wales and Scotland. A priority for Christine is to grow the membership and also ensure that the charity responds to its audience needs – with more face-to-face interactions and networking opportunities.

“We’ve got to ensure that we are sustainable going forward,” she said.

“A great job has been done so far and there is money in the bank, but I want to ensure that is the case long into the future.

Rail industry choice “I want WR to be the choice for the rail industry when it comes to gender balance, equality, diversity and inclusion.

“We’re not there to necessarily set standards, but to build awareness. We also have an important role in promoting the industry as a career of choice, being proactive in how we can support science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and other initiatives.

“When I was in Wales we were looking to be more transparent on the ground and be more of a foot soldier in that we’re reaching out to younger organisations – certainly in schools – and making the industry a bit more exciting, and really showing the breadth and diversity of the types of roles within the sector.”

Something worth noting is that Christine takes on the role alongside her full-time job at CAF. Joining CAF in 2017 as part of the Business Development Team, she has played a key role in securing several high-profile projects, including the £700 million CAF Wales and Borders new trains order.

“CAF is, and continues to be, a great support through my journey with WR, allowing me the flexibility to take on this new role. This underpins the support that CAF has for the charity,” said Christine. “Looking to Women in Rail, I do plan to make some changes that will progress the charity but hopefully with a little bit of fun around it. I’ve certainly got some new ideas and I think from the platform that we’ve got at the moment that there’s going to be a lot of opportunities for us to grow.

Great work Christine added: “More details will be revealed in the future but for starters I want to continue the great work that has been done – we’ve got the EDI Charter and the Senior Women in (or formerly in) UK rail or transport (SWIFT), which I hope will both go from strength to strength. It is our 10th anniversary this year so there will be some celebrations and events around that.

“Overall I want to see more women working and thriving in the rail industry. All of us have a responsibility to deliver inclusivity, which will provide the platform for productivity and creativity to be so much better.

“I feel WR has an important role to play in that and hopefully I can play my part as Chair in leading the way.”

We’re not there to necessarily set standards, but to build awareness

For more information, visit https://womeninrail.org