The Railway Industry Association (RIA) and Women in Rail (WR) have announced the launch of a Charter to champion and showcase equality, diversity and inclusion in the UK railway industry.
The joint charter is a commitment to work in collaboration to form a more balanced, higher performing sector and has been backed by over 100 organisations.
The Charter involves several key commitments, including to:
- Appoint a member of the senior leadership team as an ‘EDI Champion’;
- Agree an action plan, monitor and report on progress made;
- Provide opportunities for training and education of employees, support the progression of diverse individuals into senior roles to improve diverse representation at senior and executive level of the UK railway industry;
- Create a culture that fosters inclusion and provide a safe space for all employees to talk openly, including at industry events and in meetings; and
- Make recruitment and progression processes accessible and attractive to all to attract retain and develop people of all backgrounds, ages, genders and identities.
The Charter is open to all companies, clients and organisations working in the UK railway industry who wish to play a role in promotion positive change in the rail industry.
It looks to recognise and build upon the progress which has already taken place, providing the basis to encourage further collaboration and action across the sector.
RIA Chairman David Tonkin and Chief Executive Darren Caplan issued a joint statement, saying: “We are delighted to announce the EDI Charter in partnership with Women in Rail. Whilst there has been plenty of progress in the rail supply sector which we should be proud of, there is still more to do to promote diversity and equal opportunity.”
Women in Rail Founder and Director Adeline Ginn MBE said: “The rail industry has worked hard in the last few years to promote Equality, Diversity and Inclusion within its workforce. In these challenging times, it is important we strengthen these EDI efforts to ensure we attract and harness the skills, knowledge and insight from everyone representing all parts of our society and our customers.”
Andrew Haines, Chief Executive, Network Rail, said: “We are proud to be signing up to the EDI Charter in partnership with The Railway Industry Association and Women in Rail along with other organisations. We all have a collective role to play in making a positive change in our industry, so we are pledging to collaborate and take actions that will promote better equality, diversity and inclusion in the rail industry. We have taken some positive steps forward in recent years but still have a long way to go, and together, we can really make the difference that is needed.”
The Rail EDI Charter was launched today at RIA’s Annual Conference during the ‘Skills, opportunity and inclusion’ panel, which you can read more about here.
