More than 28,000 women have signed up to finish the necessary training to fill 30 train driver positions in Saudi Arabia, marking the first time the position has been made available to women in the country. Successful applicants will operate high-speed trains between Mecca and Medina on the Middle East’s first high-speed line.
More than half of the applicants, aged 22 to 30, passed an online aptitude exam to establish their academic record and English proficiency, according to Renfe, the Spanish company that is delivering the training.
Those who are originally chosen will be subjected to additional exams and a personal interview before beginning a paid training term of slightly under a year at the Spanish High-Speed Mecca Medina Consortium’s facilities, which are housed within the line’s operation center.
The training will begin in mid-March and will include theoretical and practical lessons taught by Renfe employees.
Between 2013 and 2014, the line’s first drivers were trained at Renfe’s Professional Technical School of Driving and Operations in Madrid, Spain. After negotiating a deal with the Saudi Railway Politechnic (SRP) to provide theoretical instruction at its facilities in Qassim, Saudi Arabia, this activity was expanded. Renfe has trained more than 80 local train drivers, with another 50 now through training.
Renfe’s Saudi Arabian affiliate has also hired and educated over 400 Saudis for its commercial and operations departments. The Haramain high-speed line consortium, which also comprises Adif and Ineco, now employs 1300 people, the majority of whom are Saudi citizens.