A staircase only for women at Metro station

DMRC started the facility at Kashmere Gate as pilot project on Wednesday

After a reserved coach, it is now 'reserved' staircase for women at Metro station. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Wednesday assigned a separate staircase for women at Kashmere Gate Metro station.

A pink signboard saying 'only for women' was seen hanging from above the staircase and a guard was posted there to ensure that only women used it. The staircase led straight to the platform where first coach of the train, which is reserved for women, halts.


The 'only for women' staircase at Kashmere Gate Metro station leads
straight to the place where ladies compartment halts. Pic/Imtiyaz Khan

"We had been considering this move for some time now as there had been a lot of complaints of overcrowding and misbehaviour at the interchange and other stations.u00a0 Everyday the Metro caters to about 5 lakh passengers at interchange terminals at Kashmere gate and Rajiv Chowk.

Keeping in mind this huge commuter movement, we decided to implement this move at Kashmere Gate station first. If required, depending upon the rush, it would be done at other metro stations like Rajiv Chowk as well," said a DMRC spokesperson.

The women passengers were undoubtedly happy at this move. "The best thing about this staircase is that it leads directly to the women's coach. There is no pushing and jostling with the rowdy, unruly male passengers. Commuting in Metro will be a better experience now," said Shalini Kaushik, a Delhi University student who commutes from Pritampura to Vishwavidyalya.u00a0u00a0

However, male commuters felt the move was unfair to them. "First a separate coach and now even a staircase for women. This is not fair, the guard there literally shoved us away," said 33-year-old Rangarajan Mitra who commutes daily from Shahdara.