The Ministry of Railways has approved a proposal to earmark certain seats for female passengers in the coaches of Indian Railways. This is expected to promote women safety during train journeys.

“In this context, it has been decided that a reservation quota of six berths in 3 AC class of all Rajdhani/Duronto/fully Air Conditioned trains (having 3 AC class) should be earmarked for female passengers, irrespective of their age, travelling alone or in a group of female passengers,” a statement by the Ministry noted.

This new reservation quota will be applicable alongside others that have been earmarked for women in various other trains. Currently, six sleeper class berths in Mail/Express trains have also been reserved for women in Mail/Express trains.

The ministry has undertaken steps to improve the safety of all the passengers. It has eliminated all the unmanned crossings on major routes. Railways recorded its best safety record in 2017-18 in the past few years. There are plans to build a 3,000 km wall along populated areas to guard tracks and prevent trespassing by people.

The PM Modi-led government has also created Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh’ (RRSK) in FY18 (2017-18) with a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crores. These funds will be utilised for safety-related works in the railways over the next five years.

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