What it's like to be one of the railway's only female mobile operations manager
Meet Suzanne Frazer, a mobile operations manager and member of the leadership team at Inspire – Network Rail’s gender equality employee network. This March Suzanne moderated a panel for Inspire and Network Rail’s first collaboration event with us after the rail operator renewed its sponsorship of Women in Transport. Read about her experience as one of the only women MOMs…
There are very few women in front line roles on the railway. And even fewer who do a job like mine.
I’m one of Network Rail’s only female mobile operations managers, or MOMs, responding to incidents such as train failures, problems with the overhead line equipment and even fatalities.
There are thousands of male front line MOMs but less than one percent are women - so few that we wouldn’t even fill a small break room on the same shift.
Encouraging more women to pursue and develop careers on the front line is one of our biggest challenges on the railway - and something Inspire, Network Rail’s employee network for women and gender equality, is working hard to overcome.
As an industry, we need to raise the profile of front line jobs to an audience that may never have considered the railway as a possibility. The language of job adverts needs to be clearer to spell out how the railway can offer front line positions that give colleagues the work and life balance they may need. And we need to engage with young people well before they finish education to persuade them to explore something unexpected.
Ultimately, it means changing the common preconception that front line jobs are for men.
I love my job, especially because no day is ever the same. It’s practical, physical and requires you to think on your feet. You rely on training and knowledge to ensure you make the best decisions at the time, whatever the day offers. It’s a great fit for anyone who enjoys problem solving, the challenge of the unexpected, being outdoors and not being confined to a desk.
But MOMs are typically former signallers, who tend to be men. Knowing the role can be demanding, women don’t tend to think it’s a job for them. But I’m here to tell you, you’d love it.
Most of my job is shift work. I briefly worked Monday to Friday office hours but quickly found it wasn’t for me. MOMs cover 24 hours a day every day of the year. My children have grown up with me working shifts and I’ve never missed an important moment in their lives.
And trust me, there’s a place for you on the railway if you have no previous experience. I’ve worked on the railway for 30 years after randomly applying for a ticket office clerk role for a train operator on the London Tilbury and Southend Line, now known as c2c Rail.
I had no experience and found out I was among 1,300 candidates. To my astonishment, I was one of just 25 successful applicants. So I gave it a go and I’m still here three decades later.
I stayed with the same company for 25 years, carrying out all the station-based roles, including train dispatch, ticket office and revenue control before moving into management, where I ended up as a senior manager and auditor. But always in the part of the business dealing with stations and customers; helping people and my colleagues has always been the most satisfying part of any job.
Seven years ago, I made the move to Network Rail and into my role as a MOM. The good news is that more women apply for the role each year. And we can grow the number of front line women by giving each other confidence and insight. Maybe you’ll help me fill up that break room.
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