Two Doncaster women working for Northern have been inspiring the next generation to consider a career in rail

Conductor team manager Louise Whiteley and conductor Bindu Painkal-Bowns visited Green Top Primary School in Doncaster last week to explain how they work to ensure thousands of passengers can travel safely across the North of England on a daily basis.

Some of the lucky Year 5 and 6 pupils were offered the chance to wear a conductor's uniform, complete with a whistle, bumbag, ticket machine and ticket clippers.

One of the children volunteered to sell tickets for a wide range of destinations to all of their classmates, on a machine that had been set to training mode.

Bindu and Louise then discussed the importance of safety on the railways and the wide range of careers on offer to men and women, before taking questions from the children.

Kerry Peters, regional director for Northern, said: "We're always proud when the fantastic women we have in our business go above and beyond to support our communities in the North.

"Bindu and Louise did a brilliant job of teaching the boys and girls how to stay safe when they travel by train and getting them to think about a future career in rail."

She added: "It comes as we're encouraging more women to apply for the range of roles we have on offer, ahead of International Women's Day on Friday.

"Whether you're interested in driving a train, becoming a conductor, developing your engineering skills or taking on a supporting role in one of our offices, there's something for you."

The rail industry has historically been dominated by men, but Northern has made a series of changes to its recruitment processes in recent years to ensure it has a more diverse workforce which represents the communities it serves.

Women currently make up almost 20 per cent of the train operator's workforce, with more than 1,380 in roles across the business.

Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.