It was a day of women power for Salem division of the Southern Railway as an all-woman crew operated the Coimbatore-Bengaluru UDAY Express on International Women’s Day.
The double-decker train was operated by H. Nimmy, Locopilot, and B.J. Sindhu, Assistant Locopilot. S. Mareena was the guard and a five-member ticket checking team led by Chief Travelling Ticket Inspector P.R. Savithri conducted the core duties of the train.
A senior woman passenger congratulated the team when the train was flagged off from Coimbatore.
At Salem, A. Annadurai, Additional Divisional Railway Manager, Salem, E. Harikrishnan Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Salem, and Uma Maheswari, Senior Divisional Finance Manager, congratulated the team and felicitated them.
Sapna Soni, Station Manager of Magnasite Junction railway station flagged off the train from here. Ms. Soni said that it was a moment of pride for them. “It is a great day for women in the Division and we feel for more enthusiastic,” she said.
All woman staff to run Coimbatore–KSR Bengaluru UDAY express from Salem Railway Division to commemorate International Women’s Day Celebrations at Salem Railway Junction in Tamil Nadu on March 8, 2020.
For Ms. Nimmy, the only woman Locopilot in the Division, it was a day of achievement since she was operating an Express train for the first time in her career. “I have been working in the Railways for seven years and I have been working as a Locopilot for 10 months. I usually operate goods trains and this is the first time I operated an Express train. We clocked a speed of 105 km/hr,” said Ms. Nimmy.
She said that from childhood trains enthused her and was always curious about the locomotive. Ms. Nimmy said the job was adventurous and more women should come forward to take up the job. “Operating an Express train is an entirely different experience,” she said.
B.J. Sindhu, who has been with Railways for four years, said that with support from family, women could achieve great heights.
Ms. Uma Maheswari said that it was the first time an all-woman crew operated a train under the Division and it was an honour for entire women staff.
P.R. Savithri, Chief Travelling Checking Inspector, said that she had been working in the train ever since the service was launched and said that the passengers had been very encouraging. “We felt that when passengers see women faces in crew, they are more assured and there is a smile on their face. Ever since the train started its service, we have ensured that there are no complaints regarding service,” she said.
Mr. Annadurai said that the Railways had been taking various initiatives for safety of women and he added that the Division recently distributed pepper spray to women staff as a self-defence measure.
According to Railway officials, the Division had been organising various events from March 1 on the themes ‘#EachforEqual and SheInspiresUs’ to emphasise on gender equality and to celebrate women achievers here.
According to officials, there are 1,131 women staff across departments under the Salem Division.
