'Rlys to allocate seats to all women travelling alone in long-distance trains'

kolkata: The Minister of State for Railways Darshana Jardosh on Saturday said that the railways will implement a system of allocating seats to all women travelling alone in long-distance trains.

The minister said that this system will be implemented in the reserved order system. Jardosh made this announcement during her inspection visit of Howrah Station of Eastern Railway.

She also spoke with women Railway Police Force (RPF) personnel who are part of the Meri Saheli initiative, which first started in September 2020 in South Eastern Railway (SER) and was later extended to other railway zones including Eastern Railway. The members of the Meri Saheli force informed the Jardosh of the problems faced by women travelling alone in long-distance trains.

The main objective of the force is to look after the safety and security of women passengers particularly women travelling alone, single elderly women and women traveling in long distance trains with children.

"For each long distance train, personnels are informed of the phone number and seat number of women, primarily ones travelling alone. A woman RPF personnel then approaches the woman and notes down her name while letting her know that in case of any trouble while traveling, they can contact the woman RPF personnel present," a senior official at Eastern Railway said.

The personnel will keep a tab on the women passengers throughout the journey and in long distance trains they reportedly keep a track on the phone numbers of the women travellers.

There is also SOS contact and alarm will help the passenger to reach out to the RPF personnel in one touch in case of any problem. The women RPF personnel will track the location of the passenger's tower location and immediately alert a local railway police unit.