Employing 22 more female train drivers during 2022/23 has helped to further reduce the gender pay gap at Transport for Wales (Rail).

The median gender pay gaps for TfW Rail and TfW Group stand at 16.2% and 14.1% respectively, a reduction of 1.2 percentage points  (TfW Rail) and 18.7 percentage points (TfW Group).

Recruitment has been key to equalise the proportion of colleagues at all salary levels. More women have been recruited into higher-salaried roles.

In April 2023 there were 76 female drivers (9.3% of all drivers), up from 54 (7.4%) in April 2022. In 2023 women made up 42.9% of TfW’s new apprentices, up from 14.3% the year before.

Marie Daly, Chief Customer and Culture Officer at Transport for Wales, said:

“I am delighted to report that our gender pay gaps have narrowed once again.

“Women are now better represented in higher-paid positions and both organisations have increased the proportion of women working for them.

“There is now greater representation of women among senior leaders and train drivers and we’ve seen an increase in women gaining promotion at TfW Rail.

“This change has been hard won. We’ve made progress by investing in the leadership training of women at TfW. We’re working with trade unions to ensure that more women become train drivers and engineers. We’re focused on improving women’s well-being through menopause workshops and better supporting carers and we’re building wider networks across the industry through initiatives such as Women in Transport.

“Becoming one TfW is an opportunity to improve gender equality still further and new operating model allows us to work even closer and smarter than before. Reducing the gender pay gap is a key part of becoming truly one.”

Over the next year, TfW will prioritise improving its culture and the opportunities for women. Some of these improvements include:

• Publishing key performance indicators to measure the recruitment of women.
• Offering greater opportunities for secondment to Welsh Government, Network Rail and other train operating companies.
• Developing our engagement with the communities it serves to learn how to reduce barriers to employment for and improve the retention of women from underrepresented backgrounds.
• Reducing unconscious bias by training our managers.

To read TfW’s Gender Pay Gap report visit https://tfw.wales/about-us/transparency/publications/gender-pay-gap/2023