It will begin by aiming to attract more women to its apprenticeship scheme, which since its inception in 2005 has received only 2% of applications from women.
But according to Network Rail's chief executive Iain Croucher, sexist and outdated public perceptions about job opportunities for women in the rail industry are a damaging barrier to building the bigger and better railway Britain needs.
He said: "The image of the railway as an old-fashioned, heavy industry is not the picture of what I see today. I see a modern company using 21st century technology needing a highly skilled workforce to maintain and deliver a successful and growing railway. We need more exceptional women to join us at Network Rail. I'm sure they are being put off by an outdated image of what we do and what we need. This is a scandalous waste.
Network Rail will target its recruitment advertising to attract more female applicants. Actual female employees will appear in adverts to act as case studies with media buying focused specifically on publications and websites with a high female readership.
Schools with all-female students will be targeted with recruitment materials. In-house HR teams will recruit current female employees to visit career fairs and events to talk of their experiences.
A revamped Network Rail website for its apprentice scheme will include video blogs and profiles of current female apprentices sharing their experience. And a media and public affairs programme of activity to highlight the opportunities available will support it.
In a GlideInsight survey for Network Rail, when asked who a career in railway engineering best suited, 47% of those polled said mainly or only men. When asked if enough was done in schools to promote a career to women in this area, 45% said unequivocally no, with nearly half agreeing that not enough is done.
Currently 12.7% of Network Rail's workforce is female and in 2008/9 only 17% of external applicants were from women (although a further 12% refused to disclose their sex).
In 2009, only 8% of applications to the graduate scheme for engineering functions were from women. This rose to 26% for other functions including commercial property, finance, customer services.
In 2009, only 19% of applications to the Network Rail MSc programme in project management run in conjunction with UCL and University of Warwick were from women.
