Two women’s coaches on longer trains

Two compartments of each eight-coach Metro train may soon be reserved for women. Subhendu Ray reports.

Two compartments of each eight-coach Metro train may soon be reserved for women.

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Demands for more reserved space for women passengers were raised after the December 16 gangrape and murder of a 23-year-old woman on a bus.

Even the Delhi government made a similar request to the managing director of the Delhi Metro.

“We received a letter from the chief minister’s office on January 21, asking us to introduce two women’s compartments in eight-coach trains,” Sharat Sharma, director (operations), Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), said.

The Delhi Metro will conduct a study to ascertain the number of women commuters on Line Two (Gurgaon-Jahangirpuri) and Line Three (Noida-Dwarka), the two routes on which around 70 eight-coach trains will be introduced by early next year.

“After analysing the rush of women commuters, we may introduce two women’s compartments in eight-coach trains,” said Mangu Singh, managing director, DMRC.

According to sources in the DMRC, two women coaches will be introduced if at least 25% of the commuters on these lines are women.

The Delhi Metro had introduced the first eight-coach train on the busy Gurgaon-Jahangirpuri corridor a month ago and so far increased the number to five.

It will, however, not introduce eight-coach trains on the Dwarka-Noida line in the next eight months.

Earlier, the DMRC had proposed the introduction of eight-coach trains on the two busiest lines by 2012 end in a bid to take on the growing rush of commuters.

Men travelling in coaches reserved for women in Metro trains has become one of the prime areas of concern for the Delhi Metro.

Women coaches in metro trains were introduced in October 2010. In two years, the Delhi Metro had realised a staggering R32 lakh from men travelling in women’s coaches, said officials.