LRMC introduces first female driver of LRT-1

Kathleen dela Paz, the 26-year-old female driver hired by the Light Rail Manila Corporation, sits behind the controls of an LRT train on her first day on the job Tuesday, August 9, 2016. Photo by Danny Pata

The Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC) on Tuesday introduced the first female driver of a Light Rail Transit (LRT) train.

“LRMC is very proud to hire its first lady driver, demonstrating our company’s belief that skills and competence are not gender-specific," said LRMC Operations Director Rodrigo Bulario.

Kathleen Dela Paz, 26, was a graduate of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila. She started driving trains earlier this month, after completing a 40-day training course.

"Ms. Dela Paz has shown prowess, customer-orientation, and willingness to learn that dovetails with LRMC’s customer-focused philosophy,” Bulario noted.
 
Dela Paz is one of the 30 train drivers hired LRMC under the company's Project Arangkada.
 
The company also hired 105 station tellers and 25 station supervisors as part of efforts to add more trips per day and open more teller booths at LRT Line 1 (LRT-1) stations.

Dela Paz assured commuters that she her fellow drivers can do the job well.
 
"'Wag naman sila matakot kasi nag-training naman kami. Kaya alam naman namin kung paano gagawin 'yung trabaho namin,” Dela Paz said after she was asked what she would tell passengers who might feel uncomfortable about a lady driver.

The training sessions comprised of technical and practical aspects, such as safety communication, incident/accident management, fault reporting, basic train driving and intervention, and hauling procedures.

LRMC, the private concessionaire of LRT-1, is a consortium among Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Ayala Corp. and Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings.

The company took over the operations and management of LRT-1 in September 2015. — VDS, GMA News