Marina del G is doing her dream job as a metro driver.

She started working at the Moscow Metro almost 18 years ago.

At the time, she didn't know that women couldn't legally drive the subway trains.

Now they finally can.

And Irina says, for her, it was worth the wait.

Is my childhood dream.

I used to play with model ships and airplanes with the boys.

My father is a pilot.

I'd like technical stuff since I was little.

So why the Metro?

Somehow it drew me in the fact that it's underground.

I guess it's like flying but under the ground.

Radical podium, navy, etc.

Before every shift Arena gives the Metro train, she'll be driving a once over.

She looks for damage and vandalism and checks that all the fire extinguishers or where they should be a moment of calm before the empty cars fill up with commuters.

Again, Irina has a lot of experience dealing with passengers.

She worked as a station guard on the platform for years.

Now, as a driver, she tries to get a sense of each individual Metro train.

Her connection to the train she's driving feels almost spiritual to her.

In Russia, people say the way a ship sails depends on what name you give it.

I treat each train like a person, and I think each train has a soul, too.

One train I drove had a male soul, but most of them are female.

The feeling of driving the Metro is like pure happiness.

I'm happy when I'm driving the problem.

Irina is proud to be one of the 1st 12 female metro drivers.

After all, the Moscow subway is legendary.

Its construction began in the 19 thirties.

At the time the Soviet government wanted to build a palace for the people for commuting workers.

And it shows.

In the 19 eighties, the government banned women from the driver's seat of these trains.

They said the metro is too deep underground, too loud and too dark to be safe for women.

And they said the constant vibration from the trains could damage women's so called childbearing function.

A new generation brought new trains and a drive for change, though it's not quite a U turn.

For now, women drivers are only being deployed in the most modern trains and only on the Filipowski line, which runs over ground for part of its route.

And that's despite the fact the women have the exact same training as their male counterparts.

We don't differentiate between women and men.

There is one single training program, and all the metro drivers need to know it.

But of course there are still the first women.

This metro line is less busy.

The volume of passengers isn't quite as high because this line runs mainly over ground.

It is less of a health risk.

The Moscow Metro has been celebrating its new generation of women drivers.

They've even released a limited edition Barbie for the occasion, admittedly not the most clear cut symbol for gender equality.

There are advertisements for the dolls in the subway itself.

You can be who you want to be, is the slogan.

But for women in Russia, that's still not quite true.

Metal manufacturing, like the work in this steel mill, is still off limits to women.

Mining and drilling on an oil rig are also considered men's work.

100 jobs are still banned for women.

The list of banned jobs was initially introduced after the Second World War to drive up the birth rate.

This year, the Russian government published an updated list, but lawmakers in the country are still driven by traditional family values and deep seated patriarchal attitudes.

We treat women with care here.

These tough jobs and hard labor are still seen as men's work in our society.

Also, women are mothers, so providing for and taking care of their health and their reproductive functions is important.

That is why we used recommendations from doctors to determine factors that are harmful to women at work.

Irina L.

G is on her way to work.

She does her commute there on the Metro to mixing with the other passengers ahead of her shift.

I think the moment will come when the government allows women to carry out the band professions.

I'm sure they are working on it already.

The bands must be in place for a reason.

The government is taking care of women.

I would tell other women to keep believing and keep hoping.

Then their dream will come true.

Two.

No matter who you want to become, everything is possible.

Irina already has her dream job, and the next group of women will start training to become drivers soon.

But outside of these metro tunnels, gender equality is still a long way away.