Gemma Burgess interviewed by Esker Saward

Made:
2025-03-31 in Bow

Interview with Gemma Burgess recorded by Esker Saward on 31st March 2025 at the interviewee's home in London. Duration: 1hr 40min 01secs. Childhood, Luton, education, career prospects; studying aerospace engineering at Surrey University, 2008, challenges; reflecting on time at university; 2011, questioning and realising own identity; how she realised she was transgender and how she felt, June 2012, period of significant change, from university to workplace, job interview, support from friend on online gaming platform; [00:18:50] start first job, oil and gas industry, how she felt, impact of realising she was trans, impact of being neurodivergent on office work experience, performance; temporary jobs at university, not being openly trans, meeting a transition buddy; being unemployed, experience at job centre, spring 2013, application and interview for Network Rail graduate scheme, personal interest in railways, confidence at interview; Track and Train scheme by Network Rail, details of graduate scheme, placements in Train Operation Companies (TOCs), Freight Operating Companies (FOCs), Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB), Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) and Office of Rail Regulation (ORR); Network Rail Westwood Training Centre, Coventry, corporate training; personal health and safety considerations; first placement, suicide prevention, working with Fatality Mitigation Manager; [00:30:25] not being out as trans at start of graduate scheme, feeling positive in Network Rail environment, comparing inclusivity in railway industry and private sector; how she found out about Archway LGBTQIA+ support network attending early meetings; coming out as trans to line manager, support; 2012, mental health, referral for transitioning; June 2014, coming out at work, starting transition, name change; second placement, performance office, support at start of transition; process of transitioning gender at work, colleagues/team briefed by line managers, updating IT, issues getting new ID card, support from Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Network Rail; no policies for gender transition then, supportive environment; [00:45:24] graduate scheme placement, performance, measurement of delays, why team call performance ‘the magical railway money’; train performance issues, example; anecdote, report on gapped Class 54 at Clapham Junction; other things she worked on; [00:52:23] third placement with Track Maintenance Engineer (TME) in Woking, data input, office based; interest in operational work; April 2015, end of 18-months graduate scheme, applying for jobs internally within Network Rail; reflecting on first years of her transition, physical wellbeing and health, job hunting; successful interview at Network Rail Head Office London, Project Manager role, planning and finance, how different it was to previous experiences; 2015, impact of Great Western Electrification project going over budget, enhancement projects cancelled; relationship with colleagues, politics, 2015 elections, Brexit, wellbeing and mental health; [01:11:10] new role, Freight Documentation at Network Rail, Head Office, relationship with colleagues; attending early Archway meetings; being neurodivergent, challenges at work; freight documentation role, what she does and what she likes about it; experiences being misgendered; [01:26:30] reflection on career; 2016-2020 focussed on work, 2020, Covid-19 pandemic impact on her work and life, adapting to work from home, restrictions and living conditions during lockdowns; hybrid working (2025), reassessing her life/work balance; what motivates her in her job; her personal view on how Archway started, LGBTQIA+ diversity within Archway in 2015 compared to post-Covid 2022-2023; reflecting on doing the oral history interview, feeling lucky that she hasn’t encountered a lot of adversity in her life and work [end of interview]

This interview was made as part of People Pride and Progress (PPP) project. The project was initiated in 2023 to record the stories and memories of the LGBTQIA+ community in a new oral history archive over two years. It aimed to connect past, present and future through intergenerational interviews, offering opportunities for colleagues across all parts of the rail industry to connect, reflect on and learn from each other’s lived experiences while creating an archive of oral history interviews.

Details

Category:
Corporate Archive
Collection:
People, Pride and Progress
Object Number:
2026-26
type:
oral history interview
rights:
Science Museum Group
credit:
People Pride and Project Archive created by the Science Museum Group, made possible with the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the players of the National Lottery

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