Metro Trains: gender equity in operational roles

Three VR workshops, split by audience, that put Metro Trains' leaders inside the bias its policies could not see.

Head office had moved. The depots had not.

Metro Trains had improved gender representation in its head office teams over time. Its operational departments, particularly traditionally male-dominated roles such as train maintenance, still struggled to attract and retain female staff.

People Tech Revolution, in collaboration with Grit Leadership, ran the pilot that asked why.

Could VR do for culture what it had done for technical training?

Metro Trains had already used VR successfully for technical training. The question was whether the same medium could surface systemic bias, shift leadership mindsets and drive cultural change across the organisation.

A mechanic wearing a headset stands with his arms folded beside an apprentice in a depot at night, a bus behind them, a VR transport scenario. — A mechanic and apprentice in the depot.

Soft skills, hard roles

A maintenance bay is a technical place, and its culture is set by the people already in it. Traditional DEIB efforts had struggled to shift that.

The pilot tested whether immersive learning could get further, by putting leaders in the scenario rather than in front of a policy.

A workshop for each audience

Each session used the Everyday Inclusion module from the PTR VR Library, the same module previously deployed with Etihad Airways, and each was built around the barriers most relevant to that group's part of the business.

A man wearing a VR headset faces a floating panel of three written replies in a meeting room, two colleagues at the table beyond, choosing his response. — Head Office Staff: broad DEIB awareness and continuous improvement.

A fuel attendant wearing a headset waits beside a bus driver in a depot fuel bay, a VR transport scenario. — Operational Leaders: recruiting and keeping women in hard-skill roles.

A participant wearing a headset stands at the end of a boardroom table, addressing four seated simulated colleagues of different ages, practising inclusive leadership. — Combined Leadership: a shared vision for inclusive practice.

The rooms the operational leaders run

The Operational Leaders workshop tackled real barriers to recruiting and retaining women in hard-skill roles, and examined the impact of systemic issues such as facility design and resource allocation. These are the kinds of places that conversation is about.

A simulated rail maintenance yard at dawn, gravel ballast, rolling stock and mist. A woman wearing the headset speaks to two crew, one younger, one older. — A toolbox talk in the yard.

A rail trainer and a trainee wearing a headset share one screen in a dim signal room, a VR transport scenario. — A trainer and trainee share one screen.

A tram instructor sits beside a trainee driver wearing a headset in a tram cab, a VR transport scenario. — An instructor beside a trainee in the cab.

How the pilot was run

The three workshops gave Metro Trains a structured way to test immersive learning against a problem that traditional DEIB efforts had struggled to shift.

An older driver sits quietly with a mug in a depot crib room, afternoon light through a dusty window; a supervisor wearing the headset sits beside him, giving him room. — A supervisor checks in with a driver.

Split by audience, on purpose

Rather than a single generic session, the program was split three ways: head office staff, operational leaders and a combined leadership group.

Each workshop could then spend its time on the barriers that group actually controls.

What the leaders said

The pilot's outcomes are qualitative, gathered by PTR after the sessions from the operational leaders the pilot was built for.

A man wearing a headset raises one hand in a depot doorway while a woman in a hi-vis vest listens, a VR transport scenario. — A conduct conversation at the depot door.

Bias, often unintentional

Systemic bias often proved unintentional. Policies such as prioritising separate facilities for women, rather than equitable upgrades for all staff, could reinforce a sense of exclusion.

"Virtual reality provides a safe and controlled environment where participants can engage in scenarios that challenge gender biases and promote inclusive behaviour."

Simon Lowe, PTR's CEO. Simon Lowe
CEO, People Tech Revolution. Let's be prepared, Global Best Practice Group, August 2024

Two colleagues stand apart on a depot apron beside a bus, a floating panel of replies between them, seen through the headset. — Colleagues on the depot apron, replies in view.

Leadership awareness as the lever

Operational leaders acknowledged the subtle ways culture, policy and infrastructure shape staff experience and limit equity.

Participants found the VR training realistic and engaging, and reported that it was effective in prompting new perspectives on the issue.

Where the conversation has to happen

Retention is decided in the yard, the cab and the control room, not in the policy document. These are the rooms PTR builds so leaders can practise the conversation before they have it there.

Two colleagues talk across a freight yard with a floating panel of replies between them, seen through the headset. — Two colleagues across a freight yard.

A tram driver faces an empty track ahead from the cab, a floating panel of replies beside the controls, seen through the headset. — Alone in the cab, choices beside the controls.

A dispatcher stands alone in a dim control room with a floating panel of replies beside her, seen through the headset. — A dispatcher alone in the control room.

A supervisor wearing a headset sits beside a simulated driver in a depot crib room, the driver quiet and holding a mug, practising a return-to-work conversation. — A return-to-work conversation in the crib room.

What the pilot showed

By placing leaders inside realistic scenarios rather than presenting policy alone, the pilot demonstrated that immersive learning can spark meaningful conversation even where traditional DEIB efforts had struggled to gain traction.

The same module at Etihad Airways

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