TRAIN drivers have launched a fight for broader recruitment on the railways after it was revealed that fewer than one in 10 of their number are female or come from an ethnic minority.

Aslef, the drivers’ trade union, has called for action to create a more inclusive recruitment strategy on the railways after a union report showed a “glaring gap” between train drivers and the broader population.

The results of the research included in the union’s On Track with Diversity paper, which will be launched in Parliament today, showed that only 6.5 per cent of drivers in England, Scotland and Wales were women.