Hyderabadi woman loco pilot Indira Eegalapati raring to ply Riyadh Metro trains

RIYADH: Hyderabad's Indira Eegalapati is among the few women loco pilots associated with the Riyadh Metro, currently running trial trains and raring to go as the rapid transit system nears completion.

"It is really a proud moment for me to be a part of this world-class and prestigious project, especially being an expatriate," 33-year-old Eegalapati, who has been employed as a train pilot and station operations master for five years, said.

She was working with the Hyderabad Metro when she came to know about the openings here and applied.

Eegalapati and two others from India joined in 2019 but soon Covid struck and they had to undergo the initial training virtually.

Currently, trial runs are going on and according to reports, the Riyadh Metro service is likely to become operational from early 2025.

"It has been a really good experience so far. The people of Saudi Arabia are very friendly and have a great culture. I can't imagine that I have already completed five years here," Eegalapati, one of the first women recruits, told PTI.

She also said she has never faced any challenge as a woman.

"We have equal opportunities here and there is no gender bias," she asserted.

Eegalapati hails from Dhullipalla in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh but settled in Hyderabad in 2006.

Her father was a mechanic but never compromised in the education of his three children.

"I come from a lower middle-class family and education was a nightmare. But our father ensured that we get our education. Being a girl, marriage was an important thing to our families but for our father, education came first," she said.

Eegalapati completed her engineering, her elder sister is a teacher and youngest is working with Hyderabad Metro as a train pilot.

Her husband also works here in the maintenance department of the Metro.

Eegalapati was also sent to Doha during the 2022 Football World Cup for crowd management support.

"It was a great experience to witness such a crowd and without a single incident, we made it a success," she said.