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Friday 23 Jun 2023

Levenmouth offers a platform for women in engineering

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

To celebrate International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) 2023, the Levenmouth Rail Link project welcomed a group of female industry professionals to site.

The theme for this year is ‘Make Safety Seen’ and women who work on projects were encouraged to get out and see how their roles contribute to the construction of the railway and the accompanying stations.

Following a safety briefing at the Heritage compound, the group visited the sites of Cameron Bridge and Leven stations to look at how work is progressing.

They discussed the safety measures in place and all other aspects of engineering related to the work.

INWED, celebrating its tenth year, promotes the work that female engineers are doing, not only on the Levenmouth project but across the rail sector and in wider industries.

Figures from 2021 indicated that in the UK only 16.5% of engineers are women.

Through visits to sites, and by engaging in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) events, it is hoped that more young women and girls will take up careers in engineering.

Kris Kinnear, capital delivery director at Network Rail said “It’s great to see the work of female engineers being acknowledged.

“As an industry, we are keen to encourage more young women and girls to get involved in engineering opportunities and careers. Visits such as these support our platform of diversity and inclusion, and help us to promote the role and contribution female engineers play in the industry on a daily basis.”

Claire Whitehouse, project manager at Siemens Mobility said “Getting out on site at Levenmouth is a great way to bring all the work to life. It enables the office-based team members, who don’t always play a role in the physical delivery of work, to see how their work fits in with the overall project.”

“Raising the profile of the roles women play and the contribution they make to the railway is one way to get young people to view engineering as a realistic option and to encourage more young girls into the industry.”