{"id":380113,"date":"2026-03-04T19:57:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T09:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/railuk.com\/?p=190071"},"modified":"2026-03-04T19:57:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T09:57:21","slug":"hollywood-style-walk-of-fame-honours-female-heroes-of-the-railway-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=380113","title":{"rendered":"Hollywood style Walk of Fame honours female heroes of the Railway Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Trailblazers Elizabeth Holman, Gladys Garlick, and Betty Chalmers are among the women honoured in LNER’s Hollywood walk of fame-style installations unveiled at stations. The new campaign launches ahead of International Women\u2019s Day (8 March 2026) to highlight the incredible contribution of women within the rail industry – both past and present.<\/p>\n

This comes as new data reveals that 97% of Britons have no idea that over 35,000 women currently work in the UK railway industry with almost half (42%) incorrectly believing the figure is between 5,000-10,000. A further 72% have no knowledge of the stories of women who have made the railway what it is today.<\/p>\n

Stars honouring a range of incredible women are now present at York and London King\u2019s Cross stations, many of whom have never had their stories told. Women celebrated include Elizabeth Holman who was one of the earliest known women to work on the British railway. In the 1850s she defied social limits by disguising herself as a man to take on dangerous and physically demanding railway construction work.<\/p>\n

While Nellie Nelson \u2013 who worked as a porter for LNER at York station during the Second World War \u2013 supported passengers and kept services moving through air raids and blackouts, and Gladys Garlick served as one of the first LNER female guards at this time, both showing true strength and resilience.<\/p>\n

Gladys\u2019 daughter, Lesley Cook, was at London King\u2019s Cross station to see her Mum\u2019s star unveiled. She said: \u201cSeeing my mother\u2019s legacy live on for her unwavering dedication to the British railway is such a special moment for our family. The railway is part of our roots, with my mum working as a guard, which she was so passionate about and took a huge amount of pride in, and my father being a train driver.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s truly incredible to see a light shone on her story, and all the other women who are receiving the recognition they deserve with this installation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Modern day women honoured include inspirational female LNER train drivers. Helen Donagher heroically helped save someone\u2019s life by swiftly stopping her train and disembarking to administer crucial first aid, while Rezwana Rahman became the first LNER female train driver to wear a hijab.<\/p>\n

Despite a rich history of female contribution to the railway industry, research commissioned by LNER reveals that if parents asked their children to draw a train driver, 73%t of UK children would draw a male driver compared with just 9% who would draw female.<\/p>\n

Despite almost a third (31%) of female adults admitting they would consider a career in rail, 67% say they aren\u2019t aware of all the opportunities available for women within the industry.<\/p>\n

Paula Bullock, people director at LNER, said: \u201cGender equity in the transport industry \u2013 particularly within rail \u2013 is something we\u2019re deeply passionate about and firmly committed to improving at LNER. By unveiling this installation, we\u2019re not just shining a spotlight on the remarkable achievements of women, past and present, we\u2019re also recognising there is still work to be done.<\/p>\n

\u201cSupporting women in the rail sector is essential to building a more innovative and inclusive industry. When women are empowered and supported to progress, we see better outcomes for our customers, colleagues, and communities. We want rail to be a place where women feel they belong, where their contributions are visible and valued, and where they have equal opportunities to lead and succeed. Today\u2019s celebration is both a tribute to the trailblazers who paved the way and a confirmation of our commitment to creating a railway where future generations of women can thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

LNER has been a leading example for gender diversity and equality in the transport industry, and it shows no signs of slowing down. Its latest data report reveals that 45% of its workforce is female, compared with the industry benchmark of 17.4%<\/p>\n

The stars will be in place at London King\u2019s Cross until after International Women\u2019s Day on 8 March, when they will then move into the Family Lounge, and in York railway station. People can scan the QR code on the installation which takes them to LNER.co.uk to read more about the incredible stories of these women.<\/p>\n

Image credit: LNER<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Trailblazers Elizabeth Holman, Gladys Garlick, and Betty Chalmers are among the women honoured in LNER\u2019s Hollywood walk of fame-style installations unveiled at stations. The new campaign launches ahead of International Women\u2019s Day (8 March 2026) to highlight the incredible contribution of women within the rail industry \u2013 both past and present. This comes as new [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9661,16940,47,16092,16016,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-380113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diversity","category-diversity-inclusion","category-rail-news","category-stations","category-train-operating-companies","category-uk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=380113"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":380114,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380113\/revisions\/380114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=380113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=380113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=380113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}