Male train drivers in Stockholm wear skirts to work after shorts ban

Updated
Male Stockholm train drivers wear skirts to work after shorts ban
Male Stockholm train drivers wear skirts to work after shorts ban

Male trainer drivers in Stockholm have rebelled against a ban on wearing shorts to work - by wearing skirts instead.

A group of 13 drivers working the Roslagsbanan commuter train services have been wearing skirts to keep cool as it gets so hot in the train cab.

According to the Local.se, one driver, Martin Åkersten, told the local Mitti newspaper: "It can be over 35 degrees celsius in the train cab on hot summer days."

He added: "Of course people stare at you a little when you are on the platform, but you just have to put up with it."

Arriva have reportedly responded positively to the move. According to the Daily Telegraph, the company's head of communications, Thomas Hedenius, told Mitti that to say anything else "would be discrimination".

He explained that shorts had been deemed too relaxed, but that the issue of uniforms would be discussed at a meeting in September.

Meanwhile,in April, bus drivers in Marseille, France, threatened to stage a 24-hour strike in protest over their new uniforms.

Around 1,600 employees of RTM "Régie des transports de Marseille" (the city's public transport authority), threatened to strike because the new uniform's trousers are too tight, according to local.fr.

And, in May, Virgin Trains staff were engaged in a "bra wars" row after rejecting new uniform blouses as "skimpy" and "revealing".

Virgin rail chiefs were forced to offer staff members a £20 voucher to "buy suitable undergarments" to wear under the new uniforms for use on Sir Richard's West Coast main line train and station services between Euston and Scotland.

Related articles

Virgin Train staff given £30 bra vouchers in 'skimpy' new uniforms row

French bus drivers to strike over too tight uniforms

Advertisement