COIMBATORE: As part of this year’s international women’s day celebrations, for the first time, an allwoman crew attached to the Salem Railway Division, operated the Uday Express, running between Coimbatore and Bengaluru, on Sunday morning.
The eight-member crew included loco pilot H Nimmy, assistant loco pilot B J Sindhu, guard of train S Mareena, chief ticket inspectors Mythili and P R Savithiri and travelling ticket examiners Dhanya, Helen Mary and R Nandhini.
The train departed from Coimbatore railway station at 5.40 am. On reaching Salem, railway officials, led by additional divisional railway manager A Annadurai, welcomed the all-woman crew, distributed sweets and honoured them.
Savithiri, who was visibly happy, said it was a proud moment for the women. “We were waiting for this day. Initially, we were scared to stay out of station. However, our senior commercial officials motivated and instilled courage in us to do the work without facing any hardships. Now, we are balancing our family and work.
"Even the food that is being offered to us at subsidised rates is as good as homecooked food,” she beamed.
She said parents sending their daughters to work and relatives seeing their elders off to Bengaluru ask them to take good care of their loved ones. Occupancy on the train was 90 per cent and the train reached Bengaluru at 12.40 pm.
‘It’s a family tour for us’
“This is not a train journey, but a family tour for us. Even the passengers, who have complaints, approach us politely,” Savithiri said, adding last year 14 members of the crew were appreciated by the Southern Railway GM for not receiving a single complaint against them during their journeys.