BBC

Moscow's metro says it has hired its first female train drivers since controversial rules banning women from certain jobs were lifted last year. The city's transport department welcomed "the [Moscow metro's] first female electric train drivers" on Sunday, likening it to a new era. Twelve women joined the network in the Russian capital on 1 January 2021. Moscow's metro stopped hiring women drivers in the early 1980s. The last female driver left the service in 2014. The profession had been added to a list of jobs considered too physically demanding or dangerous for women to undertake. However, it was removed from this list - along with jobs including lorry drivers and boat skippers - after much of the physical aspects of the role became automated. In a joint statement on Sunday, the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, and the city's transport department said 12 of 25 women joining the network had completed their training, received permits and were ready to "take the first passengers". Female drivers have the option of choosing the uniform they feel most comfortable in, depending on "what is more convenient for them to drive the train - in a skirt or in trousers", the statement added.