Western Railway (WR) on Monday said they are fully prepared to allow women on local trains and have asked the Maharashtra government to assess the quantum of passengers and to jointly decide the modalities.
This comes after the state government in a letter requested the railway authorities to allow female passengers in local trains services between 11 am to 3 pm and from 7 pm till the end of services for the day was sent on October 16. Following which the reply was sent by WR to the Maharashtra government, saying that Railways is in full preparedness.
"Maharashtra government requested us on Oct 16 to allow local trains services for women, from 11 am to 3 pm & from 7 pm till the end of services for the day. We wrote them back and asked them to assess the quantum of passengers and asked them to jointly decide the modalities," said Sumit Thakur, Western Railway CPRO.
He further said there was a discussion on October 18 with the state government to finalise the modalities. Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has also looked into the issue and has asked State Government Authorities to finalize the necessary modalities given COVID- 19 pandemic and convey the same to railways.
“To maintain social distancing and avoid crowding, the Western Railway has extended its suburban services to 700, which includes two ladies specials. Western Railways is currently running 700 special suburban services, including 2 Ladies Special services during the peak hours and similarly, Central Railway is running a total of 706 special suburban services," said Thakur.
Thakur further added that the recent increase was done when the number of special suburban services was increased from 506 to 700 by Western Railway with effect from October 15. "At present, the daily ridership of WR's suburban section is carrying approx 3.2 lakh passengers," he said.
