Stockholm male train drivers get around shorts ban in hot weather by wearing skirts

One driver said 'Of course people stare at you a little when you are on the platform'

Train drivers in Stockholm are wearing skirts to dodge their employer's ban on shorts (Rex Features)

Male train drivers in Stockholm have rebelled against a ban on wearing shorts by turning up for work in skirts.

Temperatures in the train cab can reach 35C during the summer, and now a group of 13 employees working for the Roslagsbanan railway system have ditched trousers for skirts to keep cool.

According to Sweden’s The Local website, the train company Arriva reportedly insists that staff cannot wear shorts.

An Arriva spokesman, Tomas Hedenius, said that shorts are “more relaxed” than a skirt, and that skirts are a perfectly acceptable alternative.

"To say anything else would be discrimination," he said.

Driver Martin Åkersten said: “Of course people stare at you a little when you are on the platform, but you just have to put up with it.

“It can be over 35 degrees Celsius in the train cab on hot summer days.”

A meeting has been arranged for September to discuss the uniform issue.