Female railway worker

Female war worker sweeping a railway station platform. Before the outbreak of World War I women were employed by railway companies to work in traditional female occupations such as cooks, kitchen assistants, laundrywomen, cleaners, french polishers or upholstery machinists. By the end of the war women had taken on most of the jobs left vacant by the 100,000 railwaymen recruited into the forces with the exception of driving trains and firing engines. As well as unskilled roles such as portering, painting, sweeping and cleaning women also became shunters, guards, track maintenance platelayers and, from 1917 railway police officers. As more women joined the National Union of Railwaymen their pay and conditions improved. Whilst most women were forced to give up their jobs when the war ended the number of women employed by the railways remained higher than that of its pre-war level partly due to the fact that over 20,000 male railway workers had died on active service whilst others suffered injuries so debilitating they were unable to return to their jobs.