Today is International Women’s Day.  To mark the occasion, I want to share the following article about the history of women working in the transit industry in London, England.  In the late 19th century, it was illegal for women to hold many jobs in England, including most roles in the transport sector.  While women filled in certain roles during World War I and World War II, they were not able to serve in operational positions and were paid less than men to do the same work, leading to a successful strike for equal pay in 1918. 

In the 1970s, the Equal Pay Act and Sex Discrimination Act came in to effect.  Jill Viner became the first woman to drive a bus carrying passengers in 1974.  Four years later in 1978, Hannah Dadds became the first woman train operator, working in tandem with her sister Edna, a train guard, forming the first all-female Underground crew.  

The article notes that even though many women have been hired in the past 40-plus years, women and especially Black and ethnic minority women are underrepresented in London’s transport workforce when compared to the overall population, and that they are paid lower median wages.  

Read the entire article about the history of women working in London transport on the London Transport Museum’s website by clicking here.  In addition, you can read more about Jill Viner’s story here, and you can read Hannah Dadds’s story here.  

Oren’s Reading List is an occasional feature on The Travelogue in which I share articles that I’ve read that might also be of interest to the readers of this website.