From April 1, all long-distance trains to have 6-seat bay in each coach for pregnant and elderly women

The six-berth bay located centrally in each compartment will be available in Sleeper Class, AC Three Tier and AC Two Tier coaches for pregnant women, female passengers over 45 years of age and senior citizens.

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As per the existing norms, an on-board ticket checking staffer is authorised to allot two lower berths to senior citizen and disabled people on first-come-first-serve basis if they are allotted upper berths in the reservation scheme.

During the Railway Budget presented last month, Prabhu had announced: “… we propose to increase the quota of lower berths for senior citizens. TTEs (travelling ticket examiners) would also be instructed to help senior citizens, pregnant women and differently-abled persons. the middle bay of coaches will be reserved for women and senior citizens for reason of safety.”

Railway officials said the separate bay for them would mean many advantages for pregnant women and senior citizens.

“Pregnant women and senior citizens travelling alone are often victimised by miscreants and thieves. If we make sure these people are sitting in one particular bay, it becomes much easier for the security staffers and also for the TTEs to keep an eye on them and see they are not assaulted or inconvenienced,” said a senior officer with the Pune division. He added that the Railways was working towards automatically providing lower berths to pregnant women. “It will be functional soon,” said the official.

Hasha Shah of Railway Pravasi Group said though the move was welcome, it was important to sensitise TTEs about the rule.
“Now that they lawfully have their own bay in each coach, they should not need to fight for it. We know that though there was a provision for senior citizens to be allotted vacant lower berths, many a times TTEs don’t allot them even after request. Hence, it is most important that the security staffers and TTEs are trained about the changes in rules and sensitised towards their responsibilities towards women and the elderly,” said Shah.