Crowding in women’s compartments of Mumbai trains, FoB; Commuters demand extension of travel slots

Commuters travelling by local trains complained of crowding inside the women’s compartments and on foot overbridges (FoB) on the suburban railway network on Friday.

Commuters travelling by local trains complained of crowding inside the women’s compartments and on foot overbridges (FoB) on the suburban railway network on Friday.

HT Image

Since Tuesday, women commuters are allowed to travel by local trains within the stipulated time slots between 11am and 3pm, and post 7pm.

“There is overcrowding inside the women’s compartment. I travelled today on the Western Railway (WR) line, and the train compartments were full. It is the same condition on the Central Railway (CR) line,” said Renu Chaudhary, a media professional from Naigaon who was travelling to Andheri.

Women passengers also claimed that due to the stipulated time restrictions, there was crowding similar to before the lockdown.

“As the travel time slot nears its end, commuters start getting into crowded compartments. The travel timings should be extended,” said Aarti Singh, a Vidyavihar resident.

Passengers also took to social media to complain of overcrowding on the FoBs at railways. “If this is the way we are going to fight from coronavirus then when will males be allowed to travel by local trains railway minister @PiyushGoyal?. This is the way Mumbai will win over corona,” tweeted @Manojtiwarirke1.

“Introduction of additional trains will be planned. We are studying the increase in passengers and will be operating new train services,” said a senior CR railway official.

CR operates 706 local train services while WR runs 704 services daily.