In a first, women drive high-speed train in Saudi Arabia


Winning over sceptics
Saudi women have traditionally thrived in select fields like education and medicine. Yet rules introduced in recent years barring workplace gender discrimination and easing dress code restrictions have created new opportunities. That includes positions as waiters, baristas and hotel receptionists that were previously dominated by foreigners, a boon to the government’s “Saudisation” agenda. Social mores don’t always keep up with changing regulations, however, something the women train drivers have seen firsthand. Raneem Azzouz, a recent recruit, said that at the end of one trip to Madina, a woman passenger explained that she didn’t believe women could do the job until she saw it with her own eyes. “She said: ‘Frankly, when I saw the (job) advertisement, I was totally against it. I said that if my daughter was going to drive me, I wouldn’t ride with her,'” Azzouz recalled. With the journey safely completed, the woman gushed that Azzouz had “proved herself” and that she “didn’t feel any difference”. The women drivers are “highly qualified and proved their worth during training,” said Rayan al-Harbi, executive vice president of the Saudi Railway Company. “This is evidence that Saudi women have full capacity when they are empowered to perform tasks like their brothers.”Passengers ‘thank me’
Not everyone is convinced. Mohammed Issa, an Emirati civil servant who recently rode the high-speed train to Jeddah airport, said women should focus on homemaking. “If the woman devotes herself to her home, there is no doubt that it will be a successful family,” he said. “But if the woman is absent from home, and work certainly keeps her away from the home, who will play her role?” Such statements appear to represent a minority view among Saudis, said Sussan Saikali of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. “There have been some comments from men claiming that women are now taking their jobs, but those comments are few and far between,” she said. “We can’t expect a whole population to support every policy in the country,” said Najah Alotaibi, associate fellow at the King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies. “But the majority of people are supportive of change.” As they settle into their new jobs, the women conductors are focusing on the positive feedback they receive, including from passengers who request selfies at the end of each trip. “Every time I finish my journey, when I get off the train and meet the passengers, they greet me saying, ‘Thank you, thank God for safety,'” Ali added. “They thank me that it was a smooth journey.”« Germany beat Belgium 5-4 (SO) to lift Hockey World Cup 2023 (Previous News)
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