Railways’ 24-hour helpline for women's safety implemented
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Women rail commuters in the Trivandrum Division which stretches from Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari to Shornur will get round-the-clock help from Railways.
An exclusive helpline, 9567869385, will become functional from Tuesday to assist women in case of any emergency. This is in addition to the Railways’ toll free helpline numbers--138 and 182.
For the exclusive assistance of woman passengers, a Women’s Facilitation Centre run by woman Railway officials, including the Railway Police Force(RPF) will become operational at Thiruvananthapuram Central station from Tuesday.
The assistance booth situated near the new booking office will function round-the-clock. And its key features, include a lactating room for breastfeeding mothers, availability of wheel chairs, hassle-free service of railway porters and easy accessibility to prepaid auto/taxi services.
Already, Southern Railways has started exclusive Women Facilitation Centres at all major stations. The purpose is to provide all types of assistance to woman passengers by senior female railway officials, addressing primarily all their needs of security and information.
These designated officials would attend calls from passengers concerned about allotted berths, behaviour of co-passengers or medical needs. If the complaints are found to be genuine, the official concerned shall take necessary action. For coordination, a woman officer of the rank of Assistant Commercial Manager has been appointed in Chennai, Chief Commercial Manager, Southern Railway, Ajeet Saxena had told Express earlier in May.