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China’s first generation of female train drivers

(People's Daily Online)    15:46, September 30, 2018

The first generation female train drivers in a program on CCTV-1. (Photo/CCTV-1)

With the recent launch of the Guangzhou-Hong Kong High-speed Railway, three female train drivers caught the public’s attention, according to CCTV-1, a general channel of China’s national TV station, Sept. 28.

However, female train drivers have been working in the industry for the last 40 years. In 1975, based on the request of female members of railway staff, the then Jinan locomotive depot under the railway bureau of Jinan, capital of east China’s Shandong Province, set up a female train driver team, recruiting a total of 21 women aged from 18 to 24.

These young women, who reportedly wrote a joint letter to ask for changes to be made to the hiring process, became the first generation of female train drivers in China, dedicating their careers to the country’s transport system.

The DF4, a diesel-electric locomotive that the female drivers took charge of, could reach a maximum speed of 120 kilometers per hour, with a maximum actual running speed of between 80 and 100 kilometers an hour.

 Some of the first generation female train drivers take group pictures in front of a train. (Photo/CCTV-1)

It took them seven and a half hours to drive the train from Jinan to Bengbu, a city in east China’s Anhui Province, while the same trip today takes less than two hours by high-speed rail.

Just like their male counterparts, these drivers not only drove trains, but were also responsible for various other tasks related to train operation such as repairs, maintenance and inspection.

Although they had to work over 10 hours a day and had to deal with physically demanding challenges, these young drivers still managed to complete every task professionally and with great passion.

40 years later, in a TV program which aired on CCTV-1, the former train drivers were invited to test drive the G-series high-speed train in a simulated operator cabin.

 

(For the latest China news, Please follow People's Daily on Twitter and Facebook)(Web editor: Bianji, Hongyu)

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