Mumbai: Women's quota in Central Railway locals goes up from 25 to 42 per cent

The new suburban railway timetable that has come into effect on the Central Railway line in Mumbai has given a boost to the carriages dedicated to women in local trains

The new suburban railway timetable that has come into effect on the Central Railway line in Mumbai has given a boost to the carriages dedicated to women in local trains. The total number of services for women now includes four entire trains and 20 services with three dedicated coaches during peak hours.

This is in addition to three first- and second-class ladies coaches each in all trains. The new timetable has created space for over 1,700 more women commuters during peak hours. A 12-car train usually has 25 p c capacity for women. With the addition of three dedicated coaches, the capacity goes up to 42 per cent during the peak hour traffic.

During peak hours, 12-car trains are very crowded despite Central Railway running ladies special trains and dedicated compartments

This year, ladies special trains complete 25 years on Central Railway. The ladies special trains on Central Railway were started on July 1, 1992 and services were slowly increased. The 1990s saw immense industrial and commercial growth towards the southern side of Mumbai, and an increase in the number of working women, especially those commuting from the north of the city.

Official speak
"Normally, every 12-car train has three-second class and three first-class ladies compartments. However, during peak hours these are very crowded despite running ladies special trains and dedicated compartments. The trick was to turn the numbers around and allow more women to get into existing trains," a senior divisional official said.

"Converting an entire train into a ladies special makes no sense, as that will leave one train less for general passengers, and also it will not be patronised that heavily. So what we have done is reserved three compartments only for ladies, which helps us serve the purpose. The pattern of commuters during peak hours has been studied and accordingly, six coaches in two trains have been dedicated to ladies," he added.

"Changes were made in the timetable after studying commuting patterns and there was a need to increase the capacity for women commuters in trains beyond Kalyan," Sunil Udasi, chief public relations officer Central Railway said.

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