New Delhi: Delhi Metro has launched a survey for reviewing the existing position of the ladies coach, days after Union Minister Maneka Gandhi suggested that it should be relocated from the extreme end to the middle of the train.
The three-day-long survey, that began yesterday, is being undertaken both online( on metro website) and offline wherein female commuters can let their preference, over the position of the reserved coach, known.
Around 30, 000 forms will be distributed among female commuters at all the terminal stations, interchange stations and stations that record high footfalls, a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation( DMRC) spokesperson said.
DMRC said that the survey has been prompted following some suggestions to change the position of ladies coach the middle of the train.
The participants of the brief survey can pick between at end of the train or at middle of the train on the question as to where they would prefer the position of the ladies coach.
The options come after a detailed explainer on the current position of the reserved coach chiefly from the angle of safety, emergency, convenience, restricting entry of male passengers and facilitating line changeover.
Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi had suggested that the reserved compartments be shifted to the middle of the train or be at both ends of the train as metro is getting crowded by the day making it difficult for a woman commuter to walk till the first reserved coach.
According to DMRC, from safety point of view, the first coach has been chosen to be reserved for its proximity to the emergency evacuation door, which makes it easy for fast evacuation of lady passengers in case of any emergency.
First coach being adjacent to train operator's cab is most convenient to be attended to by DMRC staff in case of any eventuality, especially during late night hours where the traffic is scanty.
As crowd generally builds up near centre of platform it would be convenient for women commuters to wait/board or alight train at platform ends, metro said.
The first coach also ensures that that any attempt by male passengers from general coach to enter into ladies coach through vestibule( passage between two coaches) is restricted to one end only.
Over 3, 000 male passengers have been apprehended and fined in 2015 for illegally travelling in Delhi Metro coaches reserved for women, as per the DMRC data.
The Delhi Metro network has more than 150 stations running across Delhi and adjoining areas of Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon and Faridabad.
