Matthias Rohrmann is Managing Director for AGV MOVE, Germany’s employers and business association for rail. He is also an EU Ambassador for Diversity in Transport, President of the European Union’s (EU) Social Dialogue Committee for the railway sector and on the board of the European Social Partner Agreement on Women in Rail where he led the employers’ side of the “women in rail” agreement negotiations. We spoke to him recently about these initiatives and how they are helping more women to join and thrive in Europe’s transport industries.
Matthias Rorhmann, EU Ambassador for Diversity in Transport, Managing Director AGV Move and President of the EU's Social Dialogue Committee for rail
Thank you for your time today, Matthias. Like Europe, Australia struggles with gender imbalances in the transport sector, particularly in recruitment, technical professions and leadership positions. What are the biggest career barriers for women in the transport sector in the EU?
Matthias Rohrmann -The transport sector in Europe is still very male-dominated. A large per cent of all employees are men. This has shaped the image and mindset of the industry. For many years women were not considered to have certain technical and professional skills, which prevented them from advancing.
Some frameworks or external conditions also need to be improved. For example, when starting a family, it is still primarily women who either switch to part-time work or take a longer break from their jobs. Various studies have shown that this is a clear obstacle to career development.
Overall, I believe that a different mindset, a changed positive attitude towards women, is needed to bring about a lasting change in career opportunities for women in transport. And that is what we are working on with social partners across Europe
How is the Women in Transport – EU Platform for Change making a difference?
The "Women in Transport – EU Platform for Change" launched in 2017 has certainly been a success story, helping to improve and strengthen the employment of women in the transport industry. It promotes equal opportunities in the sector by enabling the exchange of "good practices" between stakeholders, raising awareness of existing inequalities, collecting and using gender-specific data to help promote women in leadership positions and improve working conditions
The most positive steps to facilitate change through the initiative have been:
- Creation of exchange platforms and promotion of women's networks.
- Events and dialogue, including formats such as "Women in Transport Talks" as well as regional conferences for greater visibility and exchange of experiences.
- Mentoring programs for women in companies, ideally with the involvement of trade unions.
- Introduction of policy with mandatory measures to promote women.
Changing a culture is often more difficult than changing a policy. How has the EU encouraged transport companies and employees to change their mindset? Are there any outstanding campaigns or success stories?
The greatest example starts with leadership within the EU itself. Ursula von der Leyen is the current President of the European Commission, serving a second term that began on December 1, 2024, along with Executive Vice President Roxana Minzatu, who is also responsible for employment and equality.
In addition, the EU has encouraged a change in mindset by highlighting the potential of increasing female employment to address the shortage of staff and skilled workers in the transport sector. The fact that many women do not return to work after parental leave, for example, is a loss for companies and the whole sector. In addition to the EU's legislative activities, such as the four European equal treatment directives and the equal pay and transparency directives, the EU specifically promotes projects and measures in the area of diversity.
Three outstanding examples I’d like to mention are:
1) the EU Ambassadors for Diversity in Transport network. The Ambassadors are appointed by the EU Commission and bring together people across Europe who are committed to making the transport sector more inclusive, fair and representative of our diverse society, both for workers and for users. Their role is to promote diversity as a whole, with a particular focus on women and in the society underrepresented groups.
2) The EU-wide "Women in Rail (WIR)" agreement between the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) and the European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF) is unique in Europe. It’s introduced the 2025"Women in Rail Report" which highlights a number of successful campaigns and success stories in eight policy areas, including gender balanced representation, recruitment, career development, equal pay, occupational health safety and work environment and preventing sexual harassment and sexism.
3) In Ireland, the "IWish" program is a multi-award-winning education and empowerment initiative designed to inspire and motivate girls and young women to take up technical subjects. It offers mentoring programs and hands-on technology experience, as well as exchange and networking platforms.
What role do male allies, trade unions and industry leaders play in accelerating gender parity in the EU’s transport sector?
Various sector initiatives have now recognised that it takes more than just female role models to break down stereotypes of so-called "male professions"- it also takes prominent male supporters. In my role as President of the Railway Social Dialogue and Ambassador for Diversity in Transport, I act as such an ally. I take every opportunity to address the issue of "women's advancement" and promote the employment of women in the railway sector. Fortunately, there are now many such allies.
The social partners, the trade unions, also play an important role. They are close to the workforce and can also actively help to change role models. A great example is the joint mentoring program for women in leadership positions at Deutsche Bahn in collaboration with the railway union EVG. A key principle of the program supports women in leadership without forcing them to assimilate into traditional male norms—acknowledging that success can stem from authenticity and “leading as a woman.”
How important is data collection to advancing improvements in diversity across the transport sector?
Regular data collection is a very important basis. It allows you to make positive developments visible and, at the same time, identify areas which require improvement.
With the new European "Women in Rail" report, we have created transparency, comparability, but also visibility for the topic and developments. By directly surveying companies and trade unions, we have obtained a unique picture of the railway sector in Europe with regard to women’s employment. We can see, for example, that the overall proportion of women in the rail sector in Europe has increased by 10 per cent to 23 per cent. Among new hires the proportion of women is as high as 25 per cent, while only 5 per cent of train drivers are women. We therefore definitely need to work on this more.
Are there greater opportunities for cooperation between the EU and Australia to improve diversity in transport?
I see a whole range of possibilities particularly through joint exchange platforms/conferences and research projects.
For example, I invited our Australian colleagues from the Women in Rail initiative to the European "Women in Rail Implementation Conference" in August 2025. It was a great success and provided an opportunity to share experiences and look at what has worked and what doesn’t.
There are also current research projects that aim to promote women. One such project has just been launched with SERAS (the Single European Railway Area - an EU initiative to create a unified, competitive, and interoperable rail network). I successfully nominated Fiona Love from the Australasian Railways Association as a member of the project advisory board. This can certainly be expanded further.
There is a great deal of agreement between Australia and Europe in terms of attitudes and goals. We can always learn from each other. I would very much welcome and personally support an exchange of strategies and practical examples as well as joint research.
Which successful EU diversity initiatives could make a difference in Australia?
I think there are already some very good approaches and examples in Australia such as the Champions of Change Coalition. I’m very much looking forward to further cooperation and learning from each other.
The National Women in Transport initiative is also doing important work lifting the profile of senior women in transport through its speaker bureau and promoting career development and networking opportunities for women.
I can say that a campaign featuring female role models in various transport professions and at different levels, including on social media, could provide important impetus. We have had very good experiences with this in Europe, including in terms of positively changing stereotypes.
Greater connection and networking between Australia and Europe would be positive perhaps with joint online formats. International associations such as UITP could be helpful in supporting this.
It can also be interesting for Australia to participate in the mentoring program for women initiated by the UIC, the International Union of Railways, on the basis of the STAFFER project (the Skill Training Alliance for the Future European Rail system). The next round is planned for 2026. I would be happy to build a bridge here.