آيَةُ طَاهِر شَابَّةٌ مِنْ مَكَّةَ، وَعُمْرُهَا ثَمَانٍ وَعِشْرُونَ سَنَةً. دَرَسَتْ آيَةُ الْأَدَبَ الْإِنْجِلِيزِيَّ فِي الْجَامِعَةِ. وَالْيَوْمَ هِيَ سَائِقَةُ قِطَارٍ. تَعْمَلُ آيَةُ فِي قِطَارِ الْحَرَمَيْنِ السَّرِيعِ. هَذَا الْقِطَارُ يَسِيرُ بَيْنَ مَكَّةَ وَالْمَدِينَةِ. وَيَرْكَبُهُ حُجَّاجٌ وَزُوَّارٌ كَثِيرُونَ. وَبَدَأَ هَذَا الْقِطَارُ الْعَمَلَ فِي سَنَةِ ٢٠١٨. فِي السُّعُودِيَّةِ تَقُودُ النِّسَاءُ السَّيَّارَاتِ مُنْذُ سَنَةِ ٢٠١٨. وَالْيَوْمَ تَقُودُ نِسَاءٌ كَثِيرَاتٌ قِطَارَاتٍ وَطَائِرَاتٍ أَيْضًا. فِي سَنَةِ ٢٠٢٢ أَرَادَتْ آلَافُ النِّسَاءِ هَذَا الْعَمَلَ. وَآيَةُ وَاحِدَةٌ مِنْ أَرْبَعٍ وَثَلَاثِينَ سَائِقَةً جَدِيدَةً. بَدَأَ التَّدْرِيبُ فِي مَارِسَ ٢٠٢٢. تَدَرَّبَتْ آيَةُ عَلَى الْقِيَادَةِ سَنَةً كَامِلَةً. وَفِي التَّدْرِيبِ دُرُوسٌ، وَسَاعَاتٌ طَوِيلَةٌ مِنَ الْقِيَادَةِ. تَقُولُ آيَةُ: قِيَادَةُ الْقِطَارِ شَيْءٌ رَائِعٌ. وَهِيَ مَسْؤُولِيَّةٌ كَبِيرَةٌ أَيْضًا، فَفِي الْقِطَارِ نَاسٌ كَثِيرُونَ. وَتَقُولُ: النَّاسُ فَخُورُونَ بِنَا، وَنَحْنُ فَخُورَاتٌ بِعَمَلِنَا أَيْضًا. عَائِلَةُ آيَةَ تُشَجِّعُهَا كَثِيرًا. وَأَصْدِقَاؤُهَا يُشَجِّعُونَهَا أَيْضًا، وَكُلُّهُمْ فَخُورُونَ بِهَا.
Ayah Taher is a young woman from Makkah, and she is twenty-eight years old. Ayah studied English literature at university. And today she is a train driver. Ayah works on the Haramain high-speed train. This train runs between Makkah and Madinah. And many pilgrims and visitors ride it. This train started running in 2018. In Saudi Arabia women have driven cars since 2018. And today many women drive trains and planes too. In 2022 thousands of women wanted this job. And Ayah is one of thirty-four new women drivers. The training started in March 2022. Ayah trained in driving for a whole year. And the training has lessons, and long hours of driving. Ayah says: driving the train is a wonderful thing. And it is a big responsibility too, because there are many people on the train. And she says: people are proud of us, and we are proud of our work too. Ayah’s family encourages her a lot. And her friends encourage her too, and they are all proud of her.