The 5.55pm Ladies Special from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai’s biggest railway station, is one of eight females-only trains recently introduced in India’s four largest cities to spare women travellers the unwanted attention of leery males and their wandering hands.
The rail authorities had previously tried to protect women by reserving for them two carriages out of the 12 that make up most commuter trains. However, the reserved wagons quickly became overcrowded, leaving those women who couldn’t squeeze aboard at the mercy of India’s “eve-teasers”, as the men who do the groping are known.
On the Ladies Specials the only man allowed on board is the driver. The change was introduced by Mamata Banerjee, the new Rail Minister, against the backdrop of a steep increase in harassment complaints from women commuters. Many men have taken umbrage but Ms Banerjee’s extreme strategy has plenty of support among women.
Diana Katkar, a nanny, said: “I’ve been taking the train for 20 years and many times I’ve had problems with men. They touch you here and there. It got so bad, I had to carry a safety pin to poke them. Now I feel much safer having a full train to ourselves. We’ve wanted this from the beginning. It’s a luxury for us.”
And there is growing demand. The number of women commuting in business hubs such as Mumbai has risen sharply in recent years, as the amount of women working has roughly doubled since 1995. Ruksana She, 55, a maid, said: “In the Ladies Special we can travel peacefully, as there are no gents fidgeting.” Asked what “fidgeting” meant, she mimed the fondling motions of a typical eve-teasing pest.
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