UAE woman sets record of becoming first train attendant in Middle East

Dubai, Jan 31(ANI): A 28- year old woman has become the first train attendant not only in the Untied Arab Emirates, but in the Middle East.

"I am always open to challenges and I am not afraid to take risks. I work hard and my job is my top priority," The Gulf News quoted Mariam Al Safar, as saying.

"Being a train attendant has helped me understand how to interact with people and staff from different nationalities and different cultures. This has empowered me to tackle different kinds of situations with ease," she added.

Although the Dubai Metro is driverless and is operated from a centralised control room, train attendants are given manual driving training to cope with maintenance works or technical glitches.

Mariam's duties include train preparation prior to arrival and departure, maintaining security measures for passenger cabins and boarding procedures, maintaining consistent customer service and reporting directly to the Metro Controller to ensure safety and security. It also includes preparing schedules for the trains and train attendants, managing the Metro attendants, and ensuring cleanliness on all Metro Cabins.

She admitted that women in the UAE are constantly challenging societal stereotypes, and are switching from the routine nine-to-five jobs.

Mariam said that her biggest support came from her family and friends, while urging more women to achieve their goals.

"Don't live your life without a target or vision. Set a target and strive to achieve it," she said.

Mariam joined the Dubai Metro in March 2009 as a logistics planner at the HR (human resources) department, after which she got promoted as a PR and marketing executive and later, as a Passenger Services Supervisor before assuming her current post. (ANI)