A loosening of restrictions on female employment in Saudi Arabia has seen 28,000 women apply for 30 posts as train drivers in the country.
The numbers demonstrate the scale of pent-up demand for meaningful employment among women in the conservative kingdom.
Spanish railway operators Renfe and Adif have a 12-year-contract to operate the new high speed railway between Mecca and Medina and have been conducting online assessments of candidates’ qualifications and English-language skills. Renfe said it had so far processed half of the applications and would complete the task by mid-March.
The 30 women chosen to drive the bullet trains will join 80 male train drivers in Saudi Arabia, with 50 more under instruction.
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Until recently, job opportunities for Saudi women have been restricted to roles such as teachers and medical workers, because of the need to observe strict gender segregation rules. In 2018 the law was changed to allow women to drive cars, part of a series of reforms that has seen female participation in the workforce doubling in the last five years to 33%. More women than men entered the workforce in the first half of last year.
The proportion of women working in the kingdom is around half that of men in the third quarter of 2021, at 34.1%.
Despite the major social reforms of recent years as the government seeks to modernise and diversify the economy, Saudi women must still obtain a male guardian’s approval to get married, leave prison, and obtain certain healthcare. Women are discriminated against in most spheres of society in Saudi Arabia, including in marriage, divorce, family and decisions relating to children.
The Mecca–Medina line, on which trains run at up to 190mph opened in late 2018. Its 280-mile route also takes in port city Jeddah and the King Abdulaziz International Airport. Trains carry around 60 million passengers a year, many of which are pilgrims.
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In the UK, where women only make up 20% of the transport sector workforce, the government is seeking views on the future skills needs of employers in the transport sector, and has launched a taskforce to help promote transport careers and reduce barriers to diversity, inclusion and social mobility.
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