SHE has taken charge of driving the company. Now First ScotRail chief Mary Dickson wants to increase the number of women driving the firm's trains.

Just 21 of the company's 900 drivers are women, and the managing director is keen to see more of them in the cabs.

First ScotRail has launched a recruitment drive for more women - and ethnic minority - applicants for a job which pays more than £30,000 a year.

The company is one of just four out of Britain's 23 train operators to be run by a woman.

However, First ScotRail has a lower than average number of female drivers - just 2.3 per cent - compared with 3.2 per across the UK. By contrast, nearly one-third of drivers on the Glasgow Subway are women.

Ms Dickson now wants more women to fill one of the railways' historically most coveted roles.

She said: "The posts are open to both men and women, but we want to make the workforce as diverse as possible.

"That's why we will proactively encourage women and people from ethnic minority groups to apply. We want them to seriously consider a career as a train driver - and to reflect our brand values and style.

"I want to improve the balance of the workforce," she added.

Britain's first woman train driver got behind the controls as recently as 25 years ago, and there remain only some 600 among a total of about 18,500.

However, a series of major pay rises five years ago prompted a flood of applications from other workers, including bank managers, vets and teachers.

At First ScotRail, recruits start on £17,200, which increases to £24,000 after a year's training, and to nearly £30,300 once the training and probationary periods are completed after two years.

Drivers work a 35-hour week, with shifts of up to ten hours that include 5am starts.

Helena Wojtczak, the author of Railwaywomen: Exploitation, Betrayal and Triumph in the Workplace, said conditions had been vastly improved by anti-harassment regulations introduced in the late 1990s, but women drivers were still not accepted by some passengers.

Ms Wojtczak, who became the UK's first female train guard in 1978, said: "I was subjected to sexual harassment every day, with male colleagues saying my job was not suitable for a woman.

"Many female drivers have told me they still get negative reactions from male passengers, some of whom say they will be catching the next train instead."

'IT WAS A WISE CHOICE'

EVA Brodie turned her back on becoming a geologist to carve a niche for herself as one of First ScotRail's few female train drivers.

Ms Brodie, 27, said people generally reacted positively to her job - and she was glad to have opted for the railways rather than geology fieldwork or accountancy.

She said: "I still smile when thinking of the elderly male customer who doffed his hat and said, 'Gaun yourself'."

Ms Brodie, who is based in her hometown of Ayr, was encouraged to apply by her partner, Roger, a train conductor, after she completed a geography degree at Glasgow University five years ago. She said: "I have no regrets. It was a wise choice."

She said the main attractions were the salary, security and flexibility: "It's not a nine-to-five job, and I really enjoy it. I knew there were very few women in the role but, as a student, I had worked with men - from selling shoes to being on a computer production line.

"There's no doubt the role is very much open to women, which I welcome - and recommend. There's a real buzz to it."