Milton Keynes woman explains why she gave up her warehouse job to become a train driver
A woman who hankered to drive a train is finally on track to fulfil her ambition – thanks to an Avanti campaign to recruit more female drivers.
Following a trailblazing recruitment campaign, one in three of Avanti West Coast’s new trainee driver recruits are now women.
The intercity operator received 1,000 applications from women on the back of a 2023 inititiave that featured a giant mural at Euston
station of Karen Harrison, one of the UK’s first female train drivers. And among the applicants was Milton Keynes warehouse worker Marta Filipiuk.
She was selected to join Avanti and has since enjoyed “the best year of her life” learning to be a fully-fledged train driver.
“I had dreamt about becoming a train driver after meeting an instructor a few years ago... 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,” she said.
Marta, who lives in Bletchley, had once been a minicab driver, but being in control of a giant passenger train proved a very different experience.
Now three quarters of the way through her course, her goal is almost complete – and she has no regrets about giving up her warehouse job.
"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.”
Marta hopes more women will follow in her tracks. “If you are interested and think you it could be for you, then just go for it”, she urged.
Avanti has seen a 60% increase in the number of female trainee drivers and aims to increase this further over the next few years.
Much of the interest has been prompted by the 8 x 5 metre Karen Harrison mural, painted by the artist Akse, and this will be a permanent feature at Euston,
Avanti has also seen a record number of over 9,000applications from men. All that are successful at interview are added to a talent bank, where t hey 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 reallypleased 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 morewomen in the driver’s cab.”