Working women in some of India's largest cities will get their own trains to help them commute to and from work.
Women currently face difficulties in travelling to their workplaces, Indian railway minister Mamata Banerjee announced
Presenting the Railway Budget for 2009-10, she said that these train services would be introduced in Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata suburban routes on the pattern of Mumbai suburban lines.
She said these services would run for the convenience of women passengers during office hours.
The 'Ladies Only' service in Mumbai has proved to be a huge hit.
Women have often found that they cannot travel from one station to the next without having their bottoms pinched, their bodies being grabbed or pushed against, of if they're lucky, just being leered at.
The Ladies Special was a welcome relief.
Introduced in 1992, the trains run on Mumbai's Western and Central Railway lines and while there are ladies-only compartments in other trains as well, these trains are exclusively for female travelers. The Churchgate to Virar Ladies Special was the first to run the line and was the first of its kind in India.
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India as we know it has many parts which are conservative. However the promotion of heavy Bollywood culture creates social issues, contrary to the image in films where girl/boy dance in trains. On top of this we have a rising audeince for western norms, movies, lifestyles which doesnt match the social fabric and history of the region and adds further to the problems.
Some may find segration laughable, but we all know that at certain times it is neccessary to ensure that people are able to go out and meet their day to day needs without harrassment or some guy re-living a bollywood movie scene with his cheap chat up lines on the train.
6/07/2009 at 11:56 Offensive or Inappropriate?
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