A staggering 94.5% of companies in the railway industry pay their male employees more than their female staff, Railway Technology analysis revealed. Railway Technology analysed tens of thousands of official records to find the results.

The figures, which are based on reporting from all companies in the United Kingdom with a headcount of 250 employees or more, show that three of the 55 companies that have reported their pay figures had a higher women’s median hourly pay than men.

Across the sector, men’s median hourly pay was 20% higher than that of women. This puts railway industry above the national average of 11.6%.

Women working in railway occupied 9.9% of the top-paying jobs in the industry, with the rest of the top spots (90.1%) occupied by men. On the other end of the pay scale, women occupied 31.4% of the lowest-paid jobs in railway industry.

On average, women also received 14.7% less in bonuses compared to their male co-workers. The gender pay gap in railway industry has decreased in the 2021-22 reporting year compared to the year before.

This analysis is based on data from GOV.UK’s Gender pay gap service.

To create an indicator for the railway industry, Railway Technology averaged the median pay gaps in the industry and weighted them by the company size. That way, a company with 20,000 or more employees would influence the average more than a company that employs 250 people.

While the figures are a good indication of the state of the industry, they should not necessarily be taken at face value. Many companies report a gender pay gap of zero, which is statistically improbable. A minority of companies also reported a gender pay gap of 100%, which might indicate they have no female employees at all.

Because companies are only compelled to disclose summary statistics, the figures cannot be verified.