Pic Story: Young female metro driver

Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-19 11:34:38|Editor: huaxia

What does the metro driving cab look like? How do metro drivers steer a train? Female metro driver Liu Huijun will tell you.


NANNING, Jan. 19, 2020 (Xinhua) -- Liu Huijun, a metro driver born in 1996, is at work along Line One in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. She became one of the first batch of female drivers for metro trains on Line One in July 2017.

When passengers take a metro train, many may find metro driving mysterious, as they cannot see the drivers in the cab, which is separate from the main body of the train. For Liu Huijun, however, metro driving may appear as usual as any other.

Liu Huijun reports to the subway command and control center via a wired intercom at a station along the Line One of Nanning Rail Transit in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Jan. 16, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua)

Liu Huijun drives a metro train along the Line One of Nanning Rail Transit in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Jan. 16, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua)

When it comes to the morning shift, Liu usually gets up at about 4 a.m., when many people are still sound asleep.

After following a ritualistic process including copying driving accounts, taking a breathalyzer test and inspecting subway train and rails, Liu embarks on a journey alone in the driving cab.

It takes about two and half hours to finish a round trip, during which Liu must concentrate her mind on the work. Only a break after a one-way trip can Liu ease her nerves and become as lively and talkative as her peers.

Liu Huijun copies a driving account before starting her shift in a duty room at a station along the Line One of Nanning Rail Transit in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Jan. 16, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua)

Liu Huijun tidies her hair before starting her shift at a duty room in a station along the Line One of Nanning Rail Transit in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Jan. 16, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua)

Liu Huijun takes a breathalyzer test before starting her shift in a duty room at a station along the Line One of Nanning Rail Transit in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Jan. 16, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua)

Wearing plum red uniforms with bowknots, Liu and eight others, all born in the 1990s, are a special and welcome sight among the total of 300-plus drivers of Nanning Rail Transit.

Talking about gender difference, Liu said that women are more detail-oriented, which give them an advantage in train driver positions dominated by men.

Liu Huijun drives a subway train along the Line One of Nanning Rail Transit in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Jan. 16, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua)

Liu Huijun makes a gesture at a station along the Line One of Nanning Rail Transit in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Jan. 16, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua)

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