532 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION F. 



new branches. The demand up till now has varied considerably with the 

 different railways ; in one company 263 extra women have been taken on, in 

 another 170, but in others much smaller numb'ers. 



The grades chiefly affected are those of "carriage cleaners, ticket collectors, 

 and checkers. On December 31, 1913, there were 305,000 men engaged in the 

 manipulation of traffic, of whom carriage cleaners = 6,531 ; ticket collectors = 3,741. 

 The number of women on the railways is returned in the 1911 census as 2,636, 

 of whom 1,120 were clerks, &c., and 1,156 were 'other railway servants.' 

 Women are also being employed experimentally in smaller numbers as 

 messengers, weighbridge clerks, time keepers, invoice checkers, office porters, 

 and halt attendants, and by one company at least as dining car attendants. The 

 increased employment of women in the offices is considered separately. The 

 employment of women as carriage cleaners dates from some two years back, but 

 though their work as such compares very favourably with that of men in 

 quality, it appears still to be an open question whether this will be a permanent 

 occupation for women. Hitherto they have worked an 8-hour day, against the 

 men's day of 10 hours. The quality of their work is in some respects superior 

 to that of men, but in quantity it is relatively less. Some companies state that 

 they have to employ a proportion of 3 women to 2 men, or of 6 to 5, to get the 

 same amount of work. Piecework records show that women will generally earn 

 10 per cent, less than men on the same work. There are the further objections, 

 that women are not so well fitted to do the outside, but only the inside cleaning; 

 that it is generally necessary to have platform or siding accommodation for the 

 cleaning of carriages, as it is regarded as undesirable and dangerous to have 

 women cleaning carriages on the permanent way. Nevertheless the War has 

 given a considerable impulse to the employment of women as carriage cleaners^ 

 one company has taken on 140 additional women, which is one-sixth of their 

 total of male carriage cleaners employed before the War, and they are likely to 

 continue this occupation for some time to come. The effect of the new agree- 

 ment in regard to hours, introducing a 60-hour week for women (as compared 

 with 47 hours in 1913, increased more recently to 48), must remain as yet 

 uncertain, but it is likely that, though their work may continue to be satisfac- 

 tory, the women themselves may at the end of the War demand a return to the 

 stnfus quo. 



The introduction of women ticket collectors and checkers, on the other hand, 

 is almost entirely a new departure, their total in the census of 1911 being 

 returned as 19. Now one company alone has 78, which is just under one-sixth 

 of the total of men so employed before the War. Three companies had recently 

 a total of 169 women ticket collectors. One fact which has facilitated the 

 introduction of women with little or no previous training, is the suspension of 

 cheap bookings and excursion tickets, simplifying the work as compared with a 

 normal summer season to a very appreciable extent. 



It is still early to form a judgment as to the suitability of ticket collecting 

 as a permanent occupation for women, and it is made more difficult by the fact 

 that existing conditions are not normal. Thus doubt is generally expressed 

 whether in normal times an equal number of women ticket collectors would be 

 sufficient to cope with the work formerly done by men. One Eailway Company 

 at least, it is true, has followed the policy of substituting one woman for each 

 man gone, and finds the work is satisfactorily performed — women working one 

 hour less at main stations. Another Company, on the other hand, substituted 

 3 shifts of women for 2 of men, and proposed to continue this arrangement 

 for the present. Prior to the new agreement, women were working shorter hours 

 than men at main stations — at Paddington, for instance, they worked 1 hour 

 per day less — and it remains to be proved whether, as a permanent arrangement, 

 3 shifts of women would not be necessary, or at least desirable, to do the 

 work of 2 shifts of men. In the first instance they were not employed, generally 

 speaking, before 7 a.m. or after 9 p.m., whereas men are liable to duty between 

 the hours of 5 a.m. and 1 a.m., but it was soon recognised as improbable, if not 

 impossible, that this distinction could be permanently maintained. Even when 

 the system of 3 shifts of women for 2 shifts of men is accepted, it still remains 

 doubtful whether equal efficiency is obtained, and it is clear that, apart from 

 the demand for men for war service, the companies a,re not yet converted tq 



