TRAIN driving has the smallest gap in wages between men and woman.

Statistics being compiled by the Government Equalities Office are expected to reveal that while the overall gender pay in Britain is 18.4%, for train drivers it is just 0.7%.

Theresa May has vowed to tackle the "burning injustice" of the gender pay gap as the deadline arrives for the UK's largest companies to report their figures.

Equal pay is the right in Britain for men and women to be paid the same for doing the same, or equivalent, work.

It has been part of sex discrimination law for more than 40 years, and was enshrined in the Equality Act 2010. But a significant pay difference still exists in many industries

Mick Whelan, general secretary of ASLEF, the train drivers’ union, said: ‘I am delighted that train drivers have the lowest gender pay gap of any job in the UK because ASLEF has been at the forefront of promoting diversity in our industry, working hard to encourage train companies to ensure that train drivers are more representative of the communities they serve.

‘As a trade union, we can only recruit as members people who have been selected, and trained, to work as drivers by the train and freight operating companies. But we work with these companies, every day of every week, to ensure they encourage women, as well as men, to become train drivers.’

Mick added: ‘Train drivers are highly unionised and covered and protected by strong collective bargaining agreements – factors which have helped deliver this success story. However, while this news is welcome, we know the rail industry needs to do more to improve its recruitment policies and we will work with the FOCs and TOCs to make sure this happens."