Thomas the Tank Engine needs more female trains, Labour MP says

Good grief

Thomas the Tank Engine is setting a poor example to children and needs more female engines to encourage girls to become train drivers, Labour’s shadow transport secretary has said.

Mary Creagh described the lack of female train drivers in Britain as a “national scandal” and said that children’s television shows and “negative stereotypes” are partly to blame.

Mrs. Creagh said that train companies need to offer female drivers more flexible working hours so they can care for their children. She said: “There are quite a lot of stereotypical attitudes in the industry. I was talking to one freight operator who said, ‘We think women don’t like working night shifts,’ and I said, ‘Well, have you told that to all the NHS nurses who work nights in hospitals across the country, and probably do it for half the pay of train drivers?’” …