“I’d never been in rail prior to Metro, and it’s now been five years. For me I love the tangibility of seeing the results of your hard work. You walk onto a station, and you can see what you’ve accomplished. That’s my team. They’re really contributing.” Ms Howard says that for women to achieve their goals in the rail industry, the way forward is simple but not easy. “What I’ve found is that once you show a real interest in the work, and you understand the problems and challenges, then you can earn your stripes.” She says one area of focus for the future to ensure more women can reach leadership roles is more coaching and mentoring.​​​​​​​ “I think we need to have the support in place so we can help people reorientate once they enter the industry and provide an anchor point for them.”​​​​​​​