Pavithra Murugesh, a software professional, travels to her hometown Salem every weekend. On a few occasions, she had to travel five long hours in a superfast express, standing all the way till the train reached Salem.
On Friday, she was surprised to be heading home comfortably, without having to jostle for space in a crowded women’s compartment.
In March, Southern Railway replaced the old rake consisting of conventional coaches of the Chennai-Mangaluru Express (train no. 12685) with the modern, Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches.
However, unlike most overnight long-distance trains in Southern Railway that have one compartment exclusively for women and the disabled, the new rake did not have one.
Following a feedback, officials fixed an LHB coach with 100 seats two days ago exclusively for women and it has brought relief to them.
“The travel timing of this express is ideal for us, as we can reach home by 7 p.m. So far, there were less than 40 seats in the women’s compartments,” said M. P. Geetha, an accounting professional from Vellore.
On Friday, male passengers who had bought a second class ticket in the current reservation mistook the women’s coach for a general compartment and boarded it and were promptly asked to get down by Railway Protection Force policemen.
Comfortable journey
Passengers like Ms. Murugesh are not only excited to be travelling in the brand-new LHB coaches but are glad that the journey henceforth will be safe and comfortable.
“On Fridays, the compartments used to be so crowded that some women would be forced to cling on to the entrance,” she said, adding there had been instances of women losing their valuables too.
Girija Krishnan of Kannur, Kerala, wife of a railway employee in Chennai, said that railway police personnel should travel in the train till the final destination.
She said the Southern Railway administration should also take steps to accommodate the disabled, who do not have seats earmarked for them unlike the coach in the older rake.
Southern Railway officials said the issue would soon be sorted out.
