Chennai: In a welcome move, the Railway Board has decided to earmark reserved accommodation in trains for female passengers from Tuesday. According to sources from the Railways, the move is said to allocate a reservation quota of six berths for female passengers in three AC class of all Rajdhani, Duronto and fully air conditioned trains (having 3 AC class).
The move also ensures that the reservation for female passengers is applicable irrespective of their age, or if they travel alone or as a group. The decision was made by the Ministry of Railways in a bid to provide female passengers comfort during their journey.
Three facilities
Sources from the Railways revealed that there are three facilities available as a part of this move. They include:
* In the Mail/Express trains, a reservation quota of six sleeper class berths in the third bay of the coach has been earmarked for female passengers. Each coach in these trains will allocate about three lower berths for female passengers.
* In the Garib Rath Express trains, a reservation quota of six berths in three AC Class coaches has been chosen.
* Senior citizens and pregnant women to benefit
Railway sources further added that trains that have reserved sleeping accommodation, a combined quota of six lower berths per coach in sleeper class and three lower berths per coach each in AC-3 tier and AC-2 tier classes has been set aside for senior citizens (female passengers of age 45 years and above) and also for pregnant women. For the Rajdhani, Duronto and fully air conditioned/Express trains, the number of berths earmarked is four lower berths per coach.
Passengers welcome
Ever since the move was officially announced by the Railway Ministry on twitter (@RailMinIndia), several netizens appreciated the decision and it has been retweeted several times.