BENGALURU: Interaction with women commuters taking the Metro trains along the East-West Corridor reveals that earmarking a separate compartment or specific seats for women could be a major step towards reducing inconvenience.
An average of over one lakh commuters have used the Metro along the East-West Corridor since its launch and a top Metro official estimates that one-third of them are women.
Pradeep Singh Kharola, Managing Director BMRCL, said, “This option can be explored. We plan to examine the patterns of movement on the East-West corridor first. Our focus is now on stabilising the operations of Metro here and then we can bring in additional passenger amenities.”
A Metro train has three coaches and can accommodate 1,000 commuters. Huge presence of housekeeping as well as security staff at stations, CCTV cameras inside trains and platforms and the presence of crowds have definitely made women feel secure.
The security aspect has gone down well with the women but they also feel seat reservation can help. Sreevidhya, Assistant Executive Engineer at Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd, who has been commuting daily from Sir M Visvesvaraya Metro station to Vijayanagar ever since the commercial launch on May 1, says, “I travel to work during peak hours. I have never got a seat, but am able to manage since my travel time is only 10 minutes.”
Used to commuting by BMTC all these years, she has experienced much harassment in the buses and says she is happy to take a Metro train to work.
Chandrakala Prashanth, working in the State’s Prosecution and Litigation Department, says, “It is crowded in the mornings and evenings. At least during that time, some kind of allotment of seats for women will be helpful.”
M Usha, PA to Backward Classes Department Commissioner, says, “We are getting much relief from traffic jams. It would be better if I can travel along with women in a compartment.”
An elderly women interrupts to add, “For women above 50, what really matters is that lifts and escalators in all stations be maintained well.”
A few men too saw the need for seat reservation. G H Jayaram, who works in the City Civil Court complex, said, “I see women being pushed around among men when crowds barge in. A separate compartment for women will be a good move.”
Elaborating on the safety aspects of Metro, General Manager (Operations & Maintenance), Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited, B L Yashavanth Chavan said, “There are 55 cameras inside each train and the recordings are maintained for a certain period of time. Every station has security cameras on the premises. The Operations Control Centre in Baiyappanahalli can view footage from the cameras when required.”
Elaborating on the staff, Chavan said that nearly 75 people, including security personnel, work in shifts in every Metro station between 6 am and 10 pm and a few monitor the stations throughout the night after operations too.
Other Metros Have Done it
The Delhi Metro has the first coach in every train (in the running direction) reserved for women. It also has a few seats in each coach reserved for women. Men who enter ladies compartments are fined `250. Mumbai Metro has reserved 32 seats, half of one coach, with a separator. It used to have four seats in each coach earlier but they have all been brought in one coach now. Kolkata Metro has seats in each coach reserved for women.