Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has no plans, at least till the completion of Phase 1 project, to provide women-only coach in Metro trains on the lines of Delhi and Kolkata.
Pradeep Singh Kharola, Managing Director of BMRCL, told Deccan Herald that there were a couple of suggestions from the commuters including that of a separate coach for women. “It’s a good suggestion. We will try to implement it after the completion Phase 1. As of now, there are no plans as underground stretch was launched recently. BMRCL will take an appropriate decision after consultation and study of commuter movement,” he said.
The regular commuters on the East-West corridor have been requesting the BMRCL authorities to provide women-only coach to Metro trains, at least, during peak hours.
Amrita Rao, an employee of a private company in Indiranagar, said, “There is a need for a separate coach for women at least during the peak hours. Although, metro is safe and comfortable, the rush factor is causing a lot of inconvenience,” she said pointing out that there are women-only coach in metro trains in Delhi and Kolkata.
Similarly, Prashanth Srinivas, a resident of Nayandahalli and a regular Metro commuter, said that the family members and women hesitate to take Metro train due to pushing and shoving inside the coaches.
The BMRCL should make alternative arrangements before the women commuters start getting a bad opinion about metros, he said.
In the last two weeks, an average of 1 lakh passengers travelled by Metro trains between Baiyappanahalli and Mysuru Road on a daily basis. There have been instances where the commuters skipped the metro train due to lack of space in the coaches.
Spurred by the ‘good patronage’ from the people, the BMRCL has increased the train frequency from every fifteen minutes to seven minutes. The corporation is also considering to run a train every three minutes, while they say doubling of coaches would take at least two years of time.
UG stations lack seating facility
Many commuters have complained that underground Metro stations lack seating facility, causing grave inconvenience to the elderly and women in particular. When asked, BMRCL spokesperson U A Vasanth Rao said that they would place seats in the underground stations based on commuter-movement. “Each metro station is designed in such a way that during the evacuation, commuters should be able to get out of the metro in seven minutes. The placement of seats should not obstruct this process. The problem will be addressed at the earliest,” he said.