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Russia: women will be allowed to drive locomotives from 2021 - Jelena Lysenko is one of the first

2020-12-29T17:46:48.370Z


Professional bans for women still apply in Russia today - a holdover from the Soviet era. They are allowed to clean and repair trains, but they won't run until January 1, 2021. Jelena Lyssenko fought for a long time.


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Jelena Lyssenko in the driver's cab of the locomotive: from 2021 she will be one of the first female train drivers in Russia

Photo: Christina Hebel / DER SPIEGEL

When Jelena Lysenko sat down at the control panel for the first time, her pulse was racing, her hands were damp.

“You're driving today,” the engine driver had told her.

She pushed the drive lever forward and saw the train slowly start moving.

Lysenko steered the wagons from Moscow south to Kaluga, 188 kilometers away, and back.

The route is marked blue in the timetables, it is Lyssenko's favorite route.

Lyssenko wears her brown hair in a bob, the make-up is subtle.

She is 25 years old, 1.50 meters short, of petite stature, which also does not correspond to the popular image of a train driver.

"There are many colleagues who are small and slim," says Lyssenko.

She wears the dark blue uniform of the ZPPK, one of the largest local transport companies in Russia.

Three white stripes shine on the arms, the uniform was adapted for them.

Lysenko will be one of the first female train drivers in Russia from 2021.

In a few days, from January 1st, the law allows her to call herself a "machinist."

She will be the company's first female train driver among more than 700 male colleagues.

She will start work on New Year's Day on her favorite route, Kaluga and back.

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Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2020-12-29

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