Women engineering grads to steer Metro trains

Hyderabad: What is common between B Vanitha, Advaitha Reddy, Sonali Dayal, M Stella and Damera Krupa Darshini is that they are all lady loco pilots of the Hyderabad Metro Rail.

With the launch of the Hyderabad Metro Rail services around the corner, the 34 women pilots and a station controller Anusha Akula who underwent strenuous 111-day training are ready to resume their duties. Barring Anusha, who is a station controller, the others are pilots.

Interestingly, 22 of the 34 women pilots are engineering graduates who opted for the job as it is a new territory. Most of the women pilots hail from Hyderabad, Warangal, Nizamabad and Mahbubnagar. Of them, 26 are graduated with electronics and communication and could have gone into other fields; but the novelty of the services attracted them.

Anusha says, “We would be a part of a momentous period in history as Hyderabad is getting its first elevated metro rail. We take pride in

the job.” The women pilots have undergone a grueling 111 days training and have clocked hundreds of hours of driving already. In all there are over 100 pilots out of which 34 are women.

Vanitha said, “The training was strenuous but has made us confident and we need to be alert all the time.”

Though the job entails the pilots to only close the doors as they would open automatically as it is an automated operation, the pilots need to be alert as it is they who close the doors.”

The women pilots had to undergo psychometric and RDSO test. Many now cruise through on trial runs, but before getting on the real thing, they had to undergo sessions on simulators.