Ladies Quota Seat in Train

• A reservation quota of six berths in sleeper class in long distance Mail / Express trains and a reservation quota of six berths in 3AC class of Garib Rath / Rajdhani / Duronto / fully air- conditioned Express trains have been earmarked for female passengers irrespective of their age travelling alone or in a group of female passengers.
• A combined reservation quota of six to seven lower berths per coach in Sleeper class, four to five lower berths per coach each in Air Conditioned 3 tier (3AC) and three to four lower berths per coach in Air Conditioned 2 tier (2AC) classes (depending on the number of coaches of that class in the train) has been earmarked for senior citizens, female passengers 45 years of age and above and pregnant women.

Ministry of Railways

Earmarking of Accommodation for Women Passengers in Long Distance Trains & Safety & Security Measures for Women Passengers in Indian Railways

Posted On: 17 DEC 2021

Indian Railways have earmarked following accommodation for female passengers:

A reservation quota of six berths in sleeper class in long distance Mail / Express trains and a reservation quota of six berths in 3AC class of Garib Rath / Rajdhani / Duronto / fully air- conditioned Express trains have been earmarked for female passengers irrespective of their age travelling alone or in a group of female passengers.

A combined reservation quota of six to seven lower berths per coach in Sleeper class, four to five lower berths per coach each in Air Conditioned 3 tier (3AC) and three to four lower berths per coach in Air Conditioned 2 tier (2AC) classes (depending on the number of coaches of that class in the train) has been earmarked for senior citizens, female passengers 45 years of age and above and pregnant women.

‘Police’ and ‘Public Order’ are State subjects under the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India and, as such, State Governments are responsible for prevention, detection, registration and investigation of crime and maintaining law and order etc. on Railways through their law enforcement agencies viz. Government Railway Police (GRP) / District Police. However, Railway Protection Force (RPF) supplements the efforts of GRP / District Police to provide better protection and security of passenger area and passengers and for matters connected therewith.

Further, the following steps are also being taken by the Railways in coordination with GRP for safety and security of passengers including women passengers in trains and at stations: –

1. A Pan-India initiative “Meri Saheli” was launched by RPF on 17.10.2020 with the objective to provide enhanced safety and security to lady passengers travelling by trains for their entire journey i.e. from the originating station to destination station. The focus is to provide the security to lady passengers especially those travelling alone and to instill a sense of security in them. Teams of lady officers and staff have been formed who are well trained and briefed about the objective.
2. On vulnerable and identified routes / sections, trains are escorted by Railway Protection Force in addition to trains escorted by Government Railway Police of different States, daily.
3. Railway Help Line number 139 is operational (24×7) over Indian Railways for security related assistance to passengers in distress.
4. Through various social media platforms viz. twitter, facebook etc., Railways are in regular touch with passengers including women to enhance security of passengers and to address their security concern.
5. Frequent announcements are made through Public Address System to educate passengers to take precautions against theft, snatching, drugging etc.
6. Ladies Special trains running in Metropolitan cities are being escorted by lady RPF personnel. In other trains, where escorts are provided, the train escorting parties have been briefed to keep extra vigil on the lady passengers travelling alone, ladies coaches en-route and at halting stations.
7. Drives are conducted against entry of male passengers into the compartments reserved for ladies.
8. CCTV cameras have been provided in 4934 coaches and 838 Railway stations for enhancing security of passengers.
9. State Level Security Committee of Railways(SLSCR) have been constituted for all States / Union Territories under the Chairmanship of respective Director General of Police / Commissioner of States / Union Territories for regular monitoring and review of security arrangements of the Railways.
10. Emergency Talk Back System and Closed-Circuit Television Surveillance Cameras have been provided in ladies compartments / coaches of all newly manufactured Electrical Multiple Unit (EMU) and Air-conditioned rakes of Kolkata Metro. Flasher lights have also been provided in ladies coaches in EMU rakes in some zonal Railways.

This information was given by the Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronic & Information Technology, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

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Section 58 of the Railways Act, 1989 provides for earmarking of accommodation for female passengers in trains. Accordingly, in trains carrying passengers, Indian Railways have earmarked following accommodation for female passengers:

i. A reservation quota of six berths in sleeper class in long distance Mail / Express trains.

ii. A combined quota of four lower berths per coach in Sleeper class and two lower berths per coach in Air Conditioned 3 tier (3AC) and Air Conditioned 2 tier (2AC) classes for Senior citizens, Female passengers 45 years of age and above, and pregnant women.

iii. Second class accommodation for women in the second Class-cum-Luggage-cum Guard’s Coach (SLR) in most of the long distance trains.

iv. Unreserved coaches / compartments for female passengers in EMU (Electrical Multiple Unit) / DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit) / MMTS (Multi Modal Transport System) trains & local passenger trains depending upon demand pattern as well as availability of accommodation.

v. Running of ladies special EMU / MEMU / MMTS services on the suburban sections of Mumbai, Kolkata, Secunderabad and Chennai as well as on the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) sections.

Prevention of crime, registration of cases, their investigation in Railway premises as well as on running trains are the statutory responsibility of the State Police, which they discharge through Government Railway Police (GRP) of the State concerned. As such the cases of crime on Railways are reported to, registered and investigated by the Govt. Railway Police. However, RPF supplements the efforts of GRP by deploying their staff for escorting of important trains in affected areas and for access control duties at important and sensitive railway stations.

The following steps are taken by the Railways to improve safety and security of women passengers as under:-

(i) On vulnerable and identified routes/ sections, 2300 trains (on an average) are escorted by Railway Protection Force daily, in addition to 2200 trains escorted by Government Railway Police of different States daily.

(ii) All the ladies special trains running in Metropolitan cities are being escorted by lady RPF constables.

(iii) The ladies compartments in sub-urban local trains are being escorted by RPF and GRP during peak / non-peak hours. Staff deployment is made during late night and early morning sub-urban local trains to ensure proper security to the lady passengers.

(iv) An All India Security Helpline 182 has been operational to enable passengers to seek security related assistance round the clock.

(v) An Integrated Security System consisting of electronic surveillance of vulnerable stations through Close Circuit Television Camera Network, access control, Anti-sabotage checks have been sanctioned to strengthen surveillance mechanism over 202 sensitive Railway stations.

(vi) RPF holds regular coordination meetings with State Police at all levels to ensure proper registration and investigation of crime by Government Railway Police (GRP).

(c): Policing on Railways is a State subject and the Government Railway Police of the concerned State register the cases of crime against women. The details of the rape, molestation & assault cases on women filed by GRP during the years 2014 and 2015 is appended.

CCTV cameras have been installed in main line coaches in one coach each in the following trains on trial basis:-

(i) 12625/ 12626, Kerala Express

(ii) 16179/ 16180 Mannai Express

(iii) 16713/ 16714 Rameshwaram Express.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on 24.02.2016 (Wednesday).

Source : PIB

(COMMERCIAL CIRCULAR NO. 13 OF 2018)

Sub: Earmarking of reservation quota for women.

At present, following reserved accommodation is earmarked for use of female passengers :-

(a) In Sleeper Class coach reservation quota of 6 berths in Mail / Express trains for ladies irrespective of age travelling alone or in a group of female passengers.

(b) In all trains having reserved sleeping accommodation, a combined quota of six lower berths per coach in Sleeper class and 3 lower berths per coach each in AC 3 tier and AC-2 tier classes for Senior Citizens, Female passengers of 45 years of age and above and pregnant women. In case of Rajdhani, Duronto and fully Air Conditioned / Express trains, the number of berths to be earmarked under this quota in 3 AC is 4 lower berths per coach as against 3 lower berths per coach in normal Mail / Express trains.

2. The issue regarding earmarking of ladies quota in 3AC class of Garib Rath Express trains has been examined and it has been decided to earmark a reservation quota of 6 berths in 3AC class of these trains for exclusive use of female passengers irrespective of their age while travelling alone or in group of female passengers.

3. It has also been decided to modify the logic of utilising accommodation earmarked under ladies quota as under:-

(i) Till preparation of first reservation charts, only female passengers travelling alone or in group of female passengers will be booked against this quota.

(ii) However, at the time of preparation of first reservation charts, the unutilised quota earmarked for female passengers will be released to waiting list female passengers travelling alone or in group of female passengers followed by waiting list senior citizens.

(iii) If there are no such passengers and berths are left vacant, on board ticket checking staff shall be authorised to allot this accommodation to any other lady passenger / senior citizen on partially confirmed ticket, if any after making necessary entries in the reservation chart.