With International Women’s Day taking place on Saturday, 8th March 2025, an all-female signalling team at Hammerton is sharing how they got into the industry and employment at Network Rail.

Network Rail takes pride in its initiatives to promote greater diversity within its workforce in a sector that continues to be predominantly male.

On the full Network Rail Eastern Region area, only 15% of its allocated staff are female.

Having said that, the all-female team at Hammerton station, consisting of Heather Deighton and Martha Ohr, are one of a handful of all-female teams that work across the country in various sectors at Network Rail.

Their role is to signal trains as they pass along the lines by moving levers in a frame.

They are responsible for changing the points, changing the signals, operating level crossing gates, and keeping close eyes on trains that are in the block track sections over which they have operational control, while also regularly keeping in contact with the signallers on either side of them up and down the line before and after trains have passed through their operating area.

All of these enable them to keep everyone safe on the trains and at the crossings.

Hammerton is one of only a few stations left on the national network that continues to still signal trains in this way. The station still has semaphore signals, and the crossing gates are operated by hand.

Heather Deighton, a signaller, had spent two decades working in hospitality and catering when she saw an advertisement for a level crossing keeper position. After starting in that role, her manager encouraged her to attend a signalling school.

“It’s like a big train set, really! It’s great fun, controlling the lights. Kids love it because you can tell them to watch the semaphore signal, then we pull a lever and the semaphore signal moves. They love it!

So it’s quite entertaining work. I always did like trains, to be fair. There’s a part of me that misses catering occasionally, but this is a whole new challenge, and it’s been really interesting to learn it.”

Heather Deighton, Signaller at Hammerton Station

Hammerton station’s newest full-time signaller is Martha Ohr. She studied politics and economics at university before working for the NHS as an administrator.

“I like the problem-solving element of being a signaller. Sometimes when things go wrong, even though it’s not the best, it’s quite exciting to work out what we’re doing now, who do I need to speak to? Even when there’s delays and you have to work out which train I’m going to regulate in front of another train.

Each day is very different in terms of what can happen and what can be thrown at you, especially when trains are how they are. They like to do things that we don’t know they’re going to do!

Martha Ohr, Signaller at Hammerton Station

Network Rail’s Signaller Level 3 apprenticeship will see two more women join its apprenticeship this year following on from another two women who successfully completed the scheme last year.

This in turn will allow for a diverse signalling team that will soon be able to go out to schools and colleges as part of broader efforts to promote, develop and encourage women into rail operations.

Over the years many railway companies have celebrated and recognised the importance of International Women’s Day.

In 2024 the Talyllyn Railway highlighted a mother and daughter locomotive crew operating narrow gauge steam trains in west Wales, while in 2022 the LNER highlighted that 42% of its staff are made up of women.