Survey finds problem of limited room exists only in peak hours

Women commuters will have to continue to jostle for space in locals on the western line.

The Western Railways' (WR) proposal to increase the number of seats for women by nearly one-third has fallen through following a survey by senior officials which has concluded that women do not need more room in locals.
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Female commuters are upset as the survey conducted by the senior officials of the Western Railway concludes that there will be no increase in seats and compartments for them

The survey has found that the problem persists only during peak hours, which does not justify an increase in the number of ladies' compartments.

MiD DAY had reported on November 9 ('Dabbawalas, please make way for ladies') that WR had mooted a proposal to increase seats for women by 33 per cent in 9-car and 12-car rakes and 66 per cent in 15-car rakes following a barrage of complaints.
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Some handicapped and luggage coaches, used extensively by dabbawalas, were supposed to be converted into ladies' coaches.

"We know there is a problem and we have been getting regular complaints about the lack of space for women in locals.
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We had been considering a proposal to convert a few luggage coaches and those for the handicapped into ladies' compartments.

But, a new survey has indicated that there is no need for increasing the number of seats for women," said a senior WR official, on condition of anonymity.

As part of the survey, senior WR officials spoke to female commuters and also visited some stations and ladies' compartments.

They found that the problem of less space for women persisted only during peak hours and ladies' compartments were nearly empty in non-peak hours. Thus, they concluded that the proposal for increasing seats did not hold water.

Opposition

The surveyors also took into account protests from dabbawalas, who complained that converting luggage compartments into ones for ladies would make things difficult for them.

The dabbawala union wrote a letter to WR contending that there was barely any room for them already as the luggage compartment was also used by ordinary commuters during peak hours.

Female commuters are upset that there will be no increase in seats and compartments for them.

Alpana Singh, who travels between Kandivli and Marine Lines everyday, said, "Why can't the railway pay attention to the grievances of women?

We pay the same amount of money for tickets as men and yet the number of seats reserved for us has remained stagnant.

The most depressing thing is that the increase in the number of coaches for us has not been considered even in the 15-car rakes."

WR's chief PRO, Sharat Chandrayan, said, "We have already conducted a survey for an increase in the number of coaches for women and another survey will be conducted soon."

Disparity

While the number of female commuters on the suburban railway network has gone up by nearly 10 times in the past two decades, the number of compartments for them hasn't kept up with this increase.

Last year, the Central Railway increased the number of seats in ladies' first-class compartments in 12-car rakes by 10, taking the number to 36.