Renfe KSA, the Saudi branch of the Spanish operator, has recruited 34 female train drivers, the first in the history of Saudi Arabia to carry out this profession.
Specifically, these women drive trains on the Haramain High Speed Railway, the railway line that links the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, and they account for 24% of the branch's driving staff, made up of 140 people, as reported. Renfe in a statement.
The 34 train drivers have been selected in a call to which 28,000 applicants applied, of which 14,000 passed the first phase of the selection process and took a face-to-face exam at the Saudi Railway Polytechnic facilities in the city of Qassim.
The selected women train drivers have finally participated in the training program for the ninth generation of local train drivers, similar to the one taught in Spain and taught entirely in Saudi Arabia. This began on March 13, 2022 with a theoretical-practical cycle of 1,157 hours, on basic railway concepts, knowledge and infrastructure signaling system, traffic and safety regulations, and technical aspects of the train, among others.
Likewise, the practical training, which began in August with trips in the cabin with Renfe supervisors and driving with accompaniment, has consisted of 674 hours. This cycle was completed with satisfactory results in all the areas evaluated.
Six of the 34 new train drivers were already part of the Renfe KSA staff, where they carried out tasks in other areas, such as station services or train on-board personnel.
The average age of this group of workers is 26.8 years and 73% have university studies, while the average of male promotions is 28.1 years and only 31% have higher education, the operator has detailed.
In total, 96 local train drivers have already been trained by Renfe since 2013, while 44 are currently in the training period.
Additionally, the Renfe branch in Saudi Arabia has hired and trained more than 500 Saudis for the Sales and Operations departments.
In total, at this time the operating company of the Haramain High Speed Railway, in which Adif and Ineco also participate, has more than 1,300 direct workers at its service, the majority of Saudi nationality.
