How women who 'man' Kolkata's Matribhoomi local train defy patriarchy

Soumita Roy wanted to overturn the patriarchy entrenched in India's rail services. She now steers a ladies' special train through the verdant landscape of rural Bengal.

Her eyes glued to the pressure gauge as she maneuvers the master controller gear dexterously, Soumita Roy cuts an unusual frame. She takes a pause, revs up the engine and chugs out of Kolkata’s Sealdah station like a seasoned loco-pilot.

“This train is ‘manned’ entirely by women – guards, assistants, loco-pilot and passengers. Men aren’t allowed here,” she says, while steering the ladies-special Matribhoomi Local through the verdant landscape of rural Bengal.

But this isn’t Roy’s first brush with Bengal’s suburban railway network.

In September, the 31-year-old resident of a small town in Nadia was promoted as the first woman loco-pilot by the Eastern Railways. Since then, Roy has held the reigns of various local trains plying through Bengal.

Roy says her decision to wear the train driver’s hat wasn’t random. She wanted to overturn the patriarchy entrenched in India’s rail services. “Who says only men should drive trains? I wanted to break this notion and encourage more women to come forward.”

But working her way through the steeped-in-bureaucracy railway ranks wasn’t easy. In 2010, she cleared the Railway Recruitment Board exam to join the Eastern Railways as assistant co-pilot. Then in 2016, she was promoted as a goods train driver. “I had to quickly learn the ropes of line operation, system control and parking. On top of that, there were manuals to memorise,” she says.

Roy also had to endure psychological tests as well as those that gauged her decision-making, concentration, dependency and emergency-tackling skills.

“She has sheer grit and determination. You should see how she cares about accuracy and passenger safety. Her innate abilities came through when she took those tests,” says Rajneesh Singh, a senior divisional electrical engineer in charge of operations at Sealdah station. (Business Standard )

So when Roy was promoted as loco-pilot this September, there was much cheer from railway officials and staff. Her colleague and guard Sabita Shaw, who also mans Matribhoomi Local, says her elevation led to renewed respect for women in rail work.

During Roy’s felicitation ceremony at Sealdah station, aspiring women loco-pilots came forward to announce they wanted to follow in her footsteps. A few even cajoled their role model to reveal her success mantra. Bharati Dey, a high-school student from Bandel, says, “I’ve always dreamt of taking charge of the driving cabin, but Soumita has translated that dream into reality. I now want her to be my mentor.”

Shaw says she feels better now that she can share the responsibility of passenger safety with Roy. “As the senior-most staff member, I oversaw everything. But now we can divide those tasks. Indian railways needs more women who are sure-footed and agile like Soumita,” says Shaw.... Read More