It’s not about celebrating diversity once a year or ad-hoc policies. It’s about building a culture where everyone in rail can thrive
Angie Doll, CEO of Govia Thameslink
Britain’s rail industry is going through one of the most momentous periods of change in its 200-year history. The arrival of Great British Railways has focused attention on governance, accountability and the mechanics of moving people and organisations between private and public ownership. Of course, these are necessary conversations. But for most people working in rail, their more pressing questions are primarily bread-and-butter ones: namely, what will this change mean for them, their career and job security?
Periods of large-scale reform inevitably create some uncertainty, even when the potential long-term benefits are very promising. People worry about the stability of their employment, their influence and their identity. They wonder whether their experience will still be valued, whether the decisions made will take frontline experience and viewpoints into account, and whether senior leaders really understand the reality of their day-to-day work.
In situations like this, culture becomes the lens through which far-reaching changes are experienced. It has a great deal of sway over whether rail’s most important asset – its people – feel engaged or alienated, energised or anxious. The success, or otherwise, of rail reform hinges to a large extent on its ability to create a culture that truly values its workforce in all its diversity. This is why we need to spend less time poring over diagrams and delivery models, and more time thinking about people.
Why “track and train” isn’t enough
The rail industry has long tended to describe itself using the language of assets and systems: track and train, timetables and performance metrics. Obviously these are central to a functioning railway, but they don’t tell the entire story. I recently discussed this with Angie Doll, CEO of Govia Thameslink Railway, when she joined me on my podcast, Intuitive Insights, which will be released on March 6. As Angie pointed out, this tendency to focus on physical and operational aspects must not risk overlooking the vital human dimension that holds everything together.
This tendency to focus on operational aspects must not risk overlooking the vital human dimension
At its heart, rail is a people and purpose business. It depends on the judgment of drivers, the expertise of engineers, the problem-solving abilities of controllers, the people skills of station staff and the leadership of managers making complex decisions under serious pressure. Yet culturally, the rail industry has often struggled to engage in meaningful conversations about trust, cultural transformation and more inclusive approaches to leadership.
As passenger services are brought back into public ownership under the umbrella of Great British Railways, we need to redress this imbalance. Structural change without corresponding culture change risks creating friction, where people feel a transformation happening around them but not with them. Engagement dips, resentment can grow and enthusiasm dissipates just at the moment when it’s most needed. By contrast, a culture that values listening and emphasises respect can help people navigate periods of change and uncertainty with a real sense of purpose.
If the industry continues to position its agenda for reform – which is certainly an ambitious one – in predominantly technical terms, it will struggle to bring its workforce along. A more constructive approach involves a recognition that culture is not merely a “soft” issue, but rather lies at the heart of how the whole sector performs and has a crucial bearing on our ability to realise our ambitions.
Gender equality as an organic outcome
With International Women’s Day coming around again on March 8, our attention naturally returns to the issue of gender equality. But this discussion has to be part of the broader cultural conversation, not compartmentalised and separated from it. Gender equality is often treated as a discrete issue, but while initiatives such as policies, targets and awareness campaigns can have value, any success they have will be limited so long as they remain in isolation.
Gender balance isn’t something that can be bolted on to an organisation, but must be an organic reflection of its culture. When women are underrepresented in an industry, as they are in rail, it’s tempting to frame the problem as being one of attraction or aspiration, or lack thereof. In reality, it’s more about experience: who feels heard, who feels welcome and who sees a future for themselves. A culture that supports women is one that also supports a much wider range of people, including men who don’t fit into traditional leadership moulds.
This is why gender diversity shouldn’t be positioned as a special interest topic or, even worse, sidelined as merely a “women’s issue”. Rather, it should be taken as a signal of how inclusive, adaptable and future-focused an organisation really is. In the context of rail reform, focusing on culture instead of compliance creates space for more meaningful and longer-lasting change.
Making headway – but work still to do
There is concrete evidence to suggest real progress is being made. According to the 2025 Workforce Survey from the National Skills Academy for Rail, women now account for 18.9% of the UK rail industry’s workforce. That figure, though clearly still lower than it should be, reflects sustained effort across the sector. Improved early careers pathways, more visible role models, improved outreach and a growing recognition of the need for more flexible working patterns have all played a part.
Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to rest on our laurels. Although representation among women has improved at entry and early career levels, it remains significantly lower at senior and executive levels. The pipeline still narrows as careers progress. This indicates that while more women are entering the industry, too many are either leaving or seeing their career momentum stalling before they can get to leadership positions.
We have a chance to ask fundamental, searching questions about leadership, trust and inclusion
This pattern points to cultural barriers rather than any shortfall in capability. It raises big questions about how we support women in progressing their careers, how we identify leadership potential and whether senior roles are designed in ways that really reflect the realities of modern working life. It also challenges the industry to look beyond recruitment and consider retention and development.
If women are joining the rail industry but not advancing or remaining in it for the long term, as the evidence appears to suggest, the issue is certainly not a lack of ambition or competence. Rather, it gestures towards shortcomings in the wider environment in which their careers unfold.
What women really want
One of the most persistent myths that crops up in conversations around diversity is that women are concerned primarily with representational quotas or symbolic gestures. McKinsey’s recent Women in the Workplace report paints a much more nuanced picture. Specifically, it tells us that women are not seeking preferential treatment or special policies. Instead, they are seeking fairness, opportunity and respect.
What really matters isn’t whether an organisation can point to impressive diversity statistics, but whether its internal culture
really enables people to flourish and perform at their very best. This includes clear pathways for career progression, transparency in decision making, a willingness to accommodate flexible working patterns without it derailing careers and leadership that genuinely values different perspectives.
This is particularly relevant in rail. The industry has historically rewarded long hours, constant availability and a willingness to travel along linear career paths. All too often, this has excluded talented individuals, particularly but not solely women, who bring different viewpoints and ways of working. Addressing this is absolutely not a matter of lowering standards, but of redefining what counts as effective leadership on the modern railway.
Learning from other sectors
Rail is far from alone in facing these challenges. Indeed, it stands to learn a great deal from sectors that have made more consistent progress on inclusion and leadership diversity. In professional services, for example, there has been increasing emphasis on mentoring, while in technology flexible career paths and outcome-based performance have helped retain talent. In the public sector too, values-led leadership frameworks have linked inclusion directly to service outcomes.
What these sectors share is an understanding that diversity doesn’t come from fixing individuals, but from redesigning systems to accommodate difference. They have focused on how roles are structured, how success is measured and how leaders are held accountable for the cultures they create and oversee. It is not as simple as importing these models to rail lock, stock and barrel, but these examples do show cultural change is possible when it’s treated as a strategic necessity.
A golden opportunity – so let’s take it
The advent of Great British Railways presents us with a rare opportunity to reset both how UK rail is organised and also how it’s experienced by the people working in the industry. We have a chance to ask fundamental, searching questions about leadership, trust and inclusion. It’s a chance to move away from hierarchical thinking towards a more collaborative and people-centred approach.
A workforce that feels valued and engaged is much better equipped and motivated to deliver. Getting culture right obviously won’t solve every other difficulty facing the rail industry all by itself, but getting it wrong will make it harder to address them.
It is time, therefore, to change the narrative. I make no apologies for emphasising this point once more. It’s not about celebrating diversity once a year or introducing ad-hoc policies in isolation. It’s about building a culture where everyone in rail can thrive, progress and contribute to the utmost of their talents – so let’s seize the opportunity that’s been presented to us.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Nina Lockwood is CEO of Intuitive Talent Solutions and has specialised in recruiting talented leaders for over 20 years. For seven years, Nina has chaired the Outstanding Personal Contribution category for the National Rail Awards and judged the Outstanding Teamwork category. She also sits on the Women in Rail North West Committee and is a mentor for the Women in Transport Mentoring Scheme.
This story appears inside the latest issue of Passenger Transport.
Creating a culture that values everyone
by Passenger Transport on Mar 2, 2026 • 11:46 am No CommentsIt’s not about celebrating diversity once a year or ad-hoc policies. It’s about building a culture where everyone in rail can thrive
Britain’s rail industry is going through one of the most momentous periods of change in its 200-year history. The arrival of Great British Railways has focused attention on governance, accountability and the mechanics of moving people and organisations between private and public ownership. Of course, these are necessary conversations. But for most people working in rail, their more pressing questions are primarily bread-and-butter ones: namely, what will this change mean for them, their career and job security?
Periods of large-scale reform inevitably create some uncertainty, even when the potential long-term benefits are very promising. People worry about the stability of their employment, their influence and their identity. They wonder whether their experience will still be valued, whether the decisions made will take frontline experience and viewpoints into account, and whether senior leaders really understand the reality of their day-to-day work.
In situations like this, culture becomes the lens through which far-reaching changes are experienced. It has a great deal of sway over whether rail’s most important asset – its people – feel engaged or alienated, energised or anxious. The success, or otherwise, of rail reform hinges to a large extent on its ability to create a culture that truly values its workforce in all its diversity. This is why we need to spend less time poring over diagrams and delivery models, and more time thinking about people.
Why “track and train” isn’t enough
The rail industry has long tended to describe itself using the language of assets and systems: track and train, timetables and performance metrics. Obviously these are central to a functioning railway, but they don’t tell the entire story. I recently discussed this with Angie Doll, CEO of Govia Thameslink Railway, when she joined me on my podcast, Intuitive Insights, which will be released on March 6. As Angie pointed out, this tendency to focus on physical and operational aspects must not risk overlooking the vital human dimension that holds everything together.
At its heart, rail is a people and purpose business. It depends on the judgment of drivers, the expertise of engineers, the problem-solving abilities of controllers, the people skills of station staff and the leadership of managers making complex decisions under serious pressure. Yet culturally, the rail industry has often struggled to engage in meaningful conversations about trust, cultural transformation and more inclusive approaches to leadership.
As passenger services are brought back into public ownership under the umbrella of Great British Railways, we need to redress this imbalance. Structural change without corresponding culture change risks creating friction, where people feel a transformation happening around them but not with them. Engagement dips, resentment can grow and enthusiasm dissipates just at the moment when it’s most needed. By contrast, a culture that values listening and emphasises respect can help people navigate periods of change and uncertainty with a real sense of purpose.
If the industry continues to position its agenda for reform – which is certainly an ambitious one – in predominantly technical terms, it will struggle to bring its workforce along. A more constructive approach involves a recognition that culture is not merely a “soft” issue, but rather lies at the heart of how the whole sector performs and has a crucial bearing on our ability to realise our ambitions.
Gender equality as an organic outcome
With International Women’s Day coming around again on March 8, our attention naturally returns to the issue of gender equality. But this discussion has to be part of the broader cultural conversation, not compartmentalised and separated from it. Gender equality is often treated as a discrete issue, but while initiatives such as policies, targets and awareness campaigns can have value, any success they have will be limited so long as they remain in isolation.
Gender balance isn’t something that can be bolted on to an organisation, but must be an organic reflection of its culture. When women are underrepresented in an industry, as they are in rail, it’s tempting to frame the problem as being one of attraction or aspiration, or lack thereof. In reality, it’s more about experience: who feels heard, who feels welcome and who sees a future for themselves. A culture that supports women is one that also supports a much wider range of people, including men who don’t fit into traditional leadership moulds.
This is why gender diversity shouldn’t be positioned as a special interest topic or, even worse, sidelined as merely a “women’s issue”. Rather, it should be taken as a signal of how inclusive, adaptable and future-focused an organisation really is. In the context of rail reform, focusing on culture instead of compliance creates space for more meaningful and longer-lasting change.
Making headway – but work still to do
There is concrete evidence to suggest real progress is being made. According to the 2025 Workforce Survey from the National Skills Academy for Rail, women now account for 18.9% of the UK rail industry’s workforce. That figure, though clearly still lower than it should be, reflects sustained effort across the sector. Improved early careers pathways, more visible role models, improved outreach and a growing recognition of the need for more flexible working patterns have all played a part.
Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to rest on our laurels. Although representation among women has improved at entry and early career levels, it remains significantly lower at senior and executive levels. The pipeline still narrows as careers progress. This indicates that while more women are entering the industry, too many are either leaving or seeing their career momentum stalling before they can get to leadership positions.
This pattern points to cultural barriers rather than any shortfall in capability. It raises big questions about how we support women in progressing their careers, how we identify leadership potential and whether senior roles are designed in ways that really reflect the realities of modern working life. It also challenges the industry to look beyond recruitment and consider retention and development.
If women are joining the rail industry but not advancing or remaining in it for the long term, as the evidence appears to suggest, the issue is certainly not a lack of ambition or competence. Rather, it gestures towards shortcomings in the wider environment in which their careers unfold.
What women really want
One of the most persistent myths that crops up in conversations around diversity is that women are concerned primarily with representational quotas or symbolic gestures. McKinsey’s recent Women in the Workplace report paints a much more nuanced picture. Specifically, it tells us that women are not seeking preferential treatment or special policies. Instead, they are seeking fairness, opportunity and respect.
What really matters isn’t whether an organisation can point to impressive diversity statistics, but whether its internal culture
really enables people to flourish and perform at their very best. This includes clear pathways for career progression, transparency in decision making, a willingness to accommodate flexible working patterns without it derailing careers and leadership that genuinely values different perspectives.
This is particularly relevant in rail. The industry has historically rewarded long hours, constant availability and a willingness to travel along linear career paths. All too often, this has excluded talented individuals, particularly but not solely women, who bring different viewpoints and ways of working. Addressing this is absolutely not a matter of lowering standards, but of redefining what counts as effective leadership on the modern railway.
Learning from other sectors
Rail is far from alone in facing these challenges. Indeed, it stands to learn a great deal from sectors that have made more consistent progress on inclusion and leadership diversity. In professional services, for example, there has been increasing emphasis on mentoring, while in technology flexible career paths and outcome-based performance have helped retain talent. In the public sector too, values-led leadership frameworks have linked inclusion directly to service outcomes.
What these sectors share is an understanding that diversity doesn’t come from fixing individuals, but from redesigning systems to accommodate difference. They have focused on how roles are structured, how success is measured and how leaders are held accountable for the cultures they create and oversee. It is not as simple as importing these models to rail lock, stock and barrel, but these examples do show cultural change is possible when it’s treated as a strategic necessity.
A golden opportunity – so let’s take it
The advent of Great British Railways presents us with a rare opportunity to reset both how UK rail is organised and also how it’s experienced by the people working in the industry. We have a chance to ask fundamental, searching questions about leadership, trust and inclusion. It’s a chance to move away from hierarchical thinking towards a more collaborative and people-centred approach.
A workforce that feels valued and engaged is much better equipped and motivated to deliver. Getting culture right obviously won’t solve every other difficulty facing the rail industry all by itself, but getting it wrong will make it harder to address them.
It is time, therefore, to change the narrative. I make no apologies for emphasising this point once more. It’s not about celebrating diversity once a year or introducing ad-hoc policies in isolation. It’s about building a culture where everyone in rail can thrive, progress and contribute to the utmost of their talents – so let’s seize the opportunity that’s been presented to us.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Nina Lockwood is CEO of Intuitive Talent Solutions and has specialised in recruiting talented leaders for over 20 years. For seven years, Nina has chaired the Outstanding Personal Contribution category for the National Rail Awards and judged the Outstanding Teamwork category. She also sits on the Women in Rail North West Committee and is a mentor for the Women in Transport Mentoring Scheme.
This story appears inside the latest issue of Passenger Transport.
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