Women drive fast train to Mecca as Saudi workforce keeps evolving

Social mores don’t always keep up with changing regulations, something the women train drivers have seen firsthand. — Reuters

JEDDAH: Driver Tharaa Ali takes her seat at the helm of a high-speed train ferrying pilgrims to Mecca, a beneficiary of conservative Saudi Arabia’s bid to employ its booming female workforce.

Saudi women only gained the right to drive in 2018, and until recently 25-year-old Ali’s transportation experience was limited to cruising around her native Jeddah in the family sedan.