BENGALURU: In a major relief to women commuters who travel late at night on Metro trains, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has begun providing a woman guard on every train that runs beyond 10 pm. This safety measure, initiated on Tuesday (December 3), is earning it much goodwill among women.
With nearly 31% of Metro’s daily average ridership of 4 lakh commuters being women, the move could also boost their ridership on trains during nights as ‘Ladies Coaches’ witness poor occupancy beyond
9.30 pm.
BMRCL Managing Director Ajay Seth told The New Indian Express, “We received a few complaints from women on misbehaviour by men entering the Ladies coaches. This move has been effected to put an end to such behaviour and to assure women of safe travel as we operate up to 11.30 pm.”
In a bid to deter any form of misbehaviour during Metro travel, BMRCL will also begin making announcements that the CCTV footage in compartments is being monitored regularly. “We plan to download recorded footage of videos shot in compartments, particularly during nights, the next morning just to keep a regular tab on all happenings within our premises,” he said.
A cross section of women Metro commuters TNIE spoke to wholeheartedly welcomed the move. Anjaly Surendran, a postgraduate student at Christ University, who was alighting at the Lal Bagh Metro station, said, “This step is absolutely required. Women face harassment the moment they step outside their homes. Even during day time, some men misbehave with us. It will be nice if we can have a guard around everywhere we go.”
M R Chitra, a bank employee, who uses Metro for daily commute from JP Nagar to Kempe Gowda station, said that her last ride ends at 9.30 pm.“But in a City like Bengaluru, so many women work very late and use Metro to reach their destinations safe. They definitely require some kind of security inside trains,”she said.
N Rangammma, an Income Tax official in Mysuru, often visits Bengaluru to visit her daughter employed here. “During such visits, I take the bus and reach Bengaluru late at night. Then, I use the Metro to reach her place and many times there are very few women in the train. It is such a relief to know that there will be security in place in future,” she said.