According to a statement from the Moscow Ministry of Transport, the first of a new generation of female drivers started work on Sunday.
The Russian Ministry of Labor ordered women to run trains on the network a year ago, and now the first cohort has successfully completed a training program and entered the labor market. Of the 25 women who started the course, 12 have completed the course and will become drivers, according to the department.
“Next year, at least 50 new employees will join the ranks of our female drivers,” the statement said. “We are very proud that Moscow transport is an area accessible to people regardless of gender!”
The new drivers will work on the Filevskaya line, one of the most modern on the metro network.
Women were allowed to drive trains on the network from 1936, but according to the Moscow Mayor’s office, a ban on hiring new female drivers was introduced in the early 1980s.
“This was explained by the protection of women from the heavy burdens of work and unfavorable working conditions,” he said.
The Department of Transportation said the work previously involved “strenuous physical activity,” but many processes are now automated.
Kristina Vakulenko, 31, was one of the first women to sign up for the program.
“Now we are being trained to work on the new Moskva trains – they are modern, so the working conditions are much better than before,” Vakulenko, whose husband is also a metro driver, told the state-run TASS news agency. in May. “I can’t compare it myself, but my husband says that the difference with the old model is very noticeable.”
Vakulenko said the training program is “difficult,” but pointed out that drivers are given 48 days of vacation every year.
Special uniforms have been developed for female drivers, who can choose between a skirt or trousers.
According to the statement, about 36% of the Moscow metro’s total workforce of 62,000 employees is female.
Inaugurated in the 1930s, the metro is known for its spectacular architecture and taking the metro has been compared to traveling through a national heritage.