One of our Scotland Hub members, Kristen Layne, tells us about her recent site visit at the Polmadie Depot, home of the Caledonian Sleeper. Our deep gratitude to the Alstom and Avanti teams for welcoming us to their depot for an unforgettable afternoon.
On a wet and windy Wednesday, members of Women in Transport's Scotland hub headed out for an afternoon at Polmadie Depot, home of the Caledonian Sleeper, for a tour and chat with members of the team.
We were floored to find that Alstom and Avanti West Coast had rolled out the red carpet for us - female team members from apprentices to directors had come in for the session not only from across Scotland but from parts of England as well. With more biscuits than we could ever eat and takeaway goodies from the Caledonian Sleeper, we were honoured (and spoiled!) by the hospitality shown to us.
Most of us in the group had limited rail experience, so everything was new and interesting. It had not occured to many of us just how many people are required to service and turn over a series of moving hotels that run from London to Edinburgh and Glasgow and then Inverness and Fort William and Aberdeen. And not only are there incredible amounts of logistics to sort for the customer experience inside the trains, there are further logistical issues to couple and split the trains dependent on customer demand for each destination.
From a gender perspective (this is a blog post for Women in Transport, after all), it was impressive to see the commitment of Alstom and Avanti to diversify their work forces across the gender spectrum. The positive experiences shared by female apprentices (and former apprentices) highlighted the benefits of linking STEM education with targeted recruitment to entry level roles with opportunities for advancement - promoting various career paths rather than just a general theme.
There was an interesting contrast listening to more senior female staff members, who tended to have had more "squiggly" careers- working across different sectors and modes of transport (including aviation and ferries) before coming into rail.
As a transport planner, I can't end a blog post without reflecting on the travel to the depot itself. As a sustainable transport specialist, a few things that stood out to me included:
- It isn't possible to commute via rail to the depot, and the depot isn't well-served by the bus network.
- Active travel access to the depot is via a very busy road, though there is cycle parking on site.
- The depot is hoping to expand in years to come, but staff parking will be an issue.
Rail works best when it is easy to move between stations and other forms of transport - whether walking, cycling, driving, bussing, or flying. After my day out at the Polmadie Depot, I realised that the same connectivity is essential for the logistics side of rail travel too.
