Beyond the berths...

The Indian Railways has recently decided to allot the unutilised berths in trains under the ladies quota first to women passengers on the waiting list and then to senior citizens.

Currently, the quota remains open for booking till the time of preparation of the reservation chart and after that, the unutilised quota is released to the wait-listed passengers, irrespective of their gender.

According to the circular by the Railways, at the time of preparing the chart, the unutilised quota for women passengers will be released first to the wait-listed female passengers, followed by senior citizens.

Currently, in all trains with reserved sleeping accommodation, a combined quota of six lower berths per sleeper-class coach and three lower berths per AC 3-tier and AC 2-tier coach is available for senior citizens, female passengers of 45 years of age and above and pregnant women.

In Rajdhani, Duronto and fully air-conditioned or express trains, four lower berths are earmarked under this quota in AC 3-tier coaches.

The Hans India spoke to a few women travellers and gauged their views about this move by the Railways. Most said that safetly remains a major concern and should be looked into.

With inputs from Rupesh Singh.