Women in Rail Scotland

Happy International Women's Day from some of our steering committee to our fantastic membership! We appreciate all the work that you are doing to make rail an inclusive and welcoming industry to all! 🫶

On this International Women's Day, we're delighted to announce the newest members to the Women in Rail Scotland steering committee! Welcome Allison Sutherland, Commercial Manager from Network Rail, Alexa Schleger, Operations Management Graduate from Network Rail, Lisa Kabaso, Quality Advisor from SPL Powerlines and Lotus Aherne, Business Development Manager from Story Contracting. Welcome to the team!

Thank you to all of our members who attended our first social of the year at Kong in Glasgow this evening! A wonderful evening made even better with the very generous sponsorship from Siemens! Thank you to Julie, Marta and the team!

There's still time to register for our January social, taking place this Friday at KONG, Glasgow! https://womeninrail.org/events/scotland-january-social/

Join us for a special Women in Rail Scotland social at KONG Glasgow on Friday 26th January from 4-6pm! Kindly sponsored by Siemens, come along and join us for some drinks and nibbles and the opportunity to network with some of the WR members! Please register by Wednesday 24th Jan!

A fantastic way to kick off the New Year with our first Women in Rail Scotland event last week! Thank you to the team from Scotland's Railway who shared with us their experience of the UPFRONT Bond programme! An interesting & honest insight - thank you ladies!

Our first event of 2024 is now live! Join us, in partnership with Scotland's Railway, for an insight into UPFRONT, an organisation on a mission to change confidence for women through Bonds, community and content. Hear from Katie and Mhairi from Scotland's Railway about their experience on Thursday 11th January from 12-1pm.

Register by Wednesday 10th January via the link below!

https://womeninrail.org/events/scotland-learning-together/

New Year, new steering group members required! We'd love to hear from enthusiastic and passionate members who have a flair for organising and helping others succeed in their rail careers! Drop us an email by the 12th of January if you would like to be involved - details below! [email protected].

We are looking for new steering group members to join Women in Rail Scotland in the New Year! If you are committed and keen to expand the reach of Women in Rail Scotland and to helping fresh and existing talent flourish in our industry, then we'd love to hear from you!

To apply, please send a short paragraph with a brief summary about you and why you think you would be a good fit to join the steering group to [email protected]

Thanks to our fantastic panellists and to our members who attended tonight’s event! An enjoyable & inspirational evening - so much to discuss & explore in this Ascent series. Keep an eye out on our socials to find out when the second in the series will be launched! A special thanks to Strathclyde University for hosting and COWI UK Limited for sponsoring!

Don't forget there is still time to sign up for our next inspirational event, being hosted on Thursday 12th October at Strathclyde University!

Featuring key speakers from COWI, Network Rail and BAM Nuttall, learn more about the Trailblazing Twenties: Igniting Ambition in Rail.

https://womeninrail.org/events/trailblazing-twenties/

Following on from the success of the most recent Women in Rail Scotland event, we are happy to announce the most recent appointment to the Scotland steering group.

A warm welcome to Laura McWilliams, Capital Delivery Programme Manager for Network Rail, who brings with her over 19-years’ worth of experience in the rail industry.

We’d also like to take this opportunity to say thank you and farewell to the inimitable Heather Waugh, who steps down after serving as a loyal steering group member for three years.

Join Women in Rail Scotland at our next engaging event as we discuss Ascent: Empowering Women on their Rail Career Journey. Featuring key speakers from COWI, Network Rail and BAM Nuttall, learn more about the Trailblazing Twenties: Igniting Ambition in Rail, taking place on 12 October 2023 at Strathclyde University!

Link to more information and to register below!



https://womeninrail.org/events/trailblazing-twenties/

What a fantastic night at our special event at the the Scottish Parliament. The theme of the event was diversity being the key to the future of rail, with some really interesting discussions and Q&A with great participation from the audience!

A huge thank you to our panellists, Fiona Hyslop MSP, Transport Minister for Scotland, Kris Kinnear, Capital Delivery Director, NWR, Neil Robertson, CEO NSAR, Emma Porter, MD of Story Plant, their discussion and insights were enlightening, and to Graham Simpson MSP Shadow Transport Minister who did an amazing job as facilitator and is a wonderful support to Women in Rail Scotland.

Having so many key rail industry organisations in the room, Network Rail, Scotland’s Railway, ScotRail, NSAR, Rail Forum, Rail Industry Association and many Tier one contractors and suppliers, provided the opportunity to discuss and agree the necessity for industry to work collectively, to improve our skills and diversity challenges. This is just the start of this discussions and we look forward to continuing our work to make the rail industry an attractive and inclusive industry for all.

Registration is now open for our special parliamentary event, sponsored and hosted by Graham Simpson MSP.

Featured speakers include Transport Minister, Fiona Hyslop, Capital Delivery Director for Network Rail, Kris Kinnear, MD of Story Plant, Emma Porter and Chief Executive of NSAR, Neil Robertson.

To register, visit https://womeninrail.org/events/diversity-is-key/

Thanks to our sponsors The QTS Group, Story Contracting, Scotland's Railway and AmcoGiffen!

What a fabulous summer social last night, hosted by our friends at Mott Macdonald! A huge thank to all of our members who joined us - we hope you all had a fantastic evening!

We're thrilled to announce the date for our summer social! Kindly sponsored by Mott MacDonald, join us on Thurs 3rd August for drinks and nibbles at their head office in Glasgow! For more information, and to register, visit the link below!

https://womeninrail.org/events/wr-scotland-summer-social-2023

This International Women in Engineering Day, we asked COWI Senior Engineer, Catherine Hirst, why she thinks it's important to celebrate this day and why we should work together "to 'Make Safety Seen'.

She said:

"It’s important to show that women belong in engineering and raising the visibility of women in existing engineering roles through campaigns such as this one is a great way to do that. We need young children to see a diverse industry where they can see older versions of themselves so they can grow up without the idea that engineering is only for certain people. Whether they’re in the car with their parents driving past a worksite or are being subjected to unconscious bias on tv, they need to see with their own eyes the diversity that should exist.

"I’d like see kids growing up in a world where gender stereotypes are removed so they can aspire to be whatever they want to be. It has to start with campaigns like this.

"I lead by example and speak up when needed. By setting an example I hope to show others it’s ok to query safety related matters."

Lorna & Lisa from Women in Rail Scotland have been at Rail Live this week! A great few days at the exhibition, meeting up with colleagues from across the industry! Great to meet Hugh Merriman, Minister for Rail & HS2 and also Rose Garber from the Rail Industry Association!

To celebrate Women in Engineering Day later this month, Women in Rail is looking to hear from members to form a social media campaign! If you'd like to be involved, please send a head shot, your name, job title and company, plus a short answer to the below questions by the 15th June! Please send to [email protected].

Why are you supporting this campaign?
2. Why did you become an engineer?
3. What made you choose a career in the rail industry?
4. How do you make safety seen?
5. Why should people consider a career in rail?

Thank you!

Great to see some of our steering group attending tonight at the Roundhouse! Did you attend? Post your pictures in the comments below ⬇️

A fantastic opportunity earlier this week for some of our members to join the Glasgow Central Station Tour! It was an amazing journey back to the railways of old when the rail industry wasn’t considered a place for women - thank goodness times have changed! Huge thanks to our wonderful guide, Paul Lyons, and to all of the members who joined us for the occasion!

Just a reminder about our Women in Rail Scotland social event next Tuesday 28th of February! Join us from 430pm at Revolution, Mitchell Street, Glasgow, for drinks and networking - sign up below!

https://womeninrail.org/events/wr-scotland-social/

It was an inspiring and informative Women in Rail Scotland session to kick off 2023, as we hosted our eagerly anticipated event, Diversity - The key to future rail success.

Attended by over 70 Women in Rail Scotland members virtually, we had some fantastic content from Scottish Transport Minister, Jenny Gilruth and MD of Scotland's Railway, Alex Hynes.

Speakers including, Graeme Simpson, MSP, Heather Waugh, Scotland's only female freight driver with Freightliner, Joanne Maguire, Chief Operating Officer for ScotRail and Karen Wallace, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Manager for ScotRail also touched on some fantastic messages across the event.

It was also an honour to welcome Nicola Dawson and Fiona Hawthorn who spoke about the Inspire network!

A lovely way to kick off the first in a series of Women in Rail Scotland events for the year! Stay tuned for more information on our events across our social channels!

UPDATE TO MEMBERS:
Please note, that due to circumstances outwith our control, we are moving this event online.

The event will still take place on the 7th February at 850am. You can register here:

https://womeninrail.org/events/wr-scotland-diversity/

Women in Rail Scotland is always looking for new ways to engage with our membership, so we're opening up nominations for new steering group members to help make 2023 the biggest and best year of Women in Rail yet!

If you would like to nominate someone, or put yourself forward, then please email a short paragraph to [email protected] on why you feel you would be a good fit for the steering group by 30th January 2023!

*Notice to members* : Due to circumstances outwith our control, Women in Rail Scotland is postponing its festive social and the Glasgow Central Tour, due to take place on Tues 13th December, until the New Year. Thank you to all of those who have signed up, we will be in touch directly.

Women in Rail Scotland has three fantastic new events available for registration now!

✨Grand Central Station Tour - 13th December (limited spaces)
✨Festive Get Together, Revolution, Mitchell Street - 13th Dec
✨The highly anticipated event featuring Scottish Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth, Scotrail COO Joanne Maguire, freight driver Heather Waugh & Karen Wallace, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Manager, ScotRail

You can find out more & register here:

https://womeninrail.org/region/scotland/?type=events

If you enjoy receiving updates from Women in Rail Scotland as part of your free membership, please resign up to our mailing list to ensure that we have the correct contact details for all of our members. It’s easy and straightforward and will ensure that you stay up to date with all of the great events coming up from the Women in Rail Scotland team! Thank you!

https://womeninrail.org/contact-us/