How women who 'man' Kolkata's Matribhoomi local train defy patriarchy

Soumita Roy wanted to overturn the patriarchy entrenched in India's rail services. She now steers a ladies' special train through the verdant landscape of rural Bengal

Her eyes glued to the pressure gauge as she maneuvers the master controller gear dexterously, Soumita Roy cuts an unusual frame. She takes a pause, revs up the engine and chugs out of Kolkata’s Sealdah station like a seasoned loco-pilot.

“This train is ‘manned’ entirely by women – guards, assistants, loco-pilot and passengers. Men aren’t allowed here,” she says, while steering the ladies-special Matribhoomi Local through the verdant landscape of rural Bengal.

But this isn’t Roy’s first brush with Bengal’s suburban railway network.

In September, the 31-year-old resident of a small town in Nadia was promoted as the first woman