Mumbai's Life Line: Western Railway 'Ladies Special Train' Flags-Off 26th Anniversary Ceremony

Mumbai, May 6: Mumbai local trains also known as the lifeline of Mumbaikars have immense value in commuters life. The local trains which run on three different lines 'Western', 'Central' and 'Harbour' lines provide services to lakhs of commuters daily by running hundreds of kilometres. Therefore, many times if there's a delay or the service gets disturbed it becomes the headline on all television news channels. Though travelling in local trains has become a tough task with time, still, Mumbaikars are seen celebrating the festivals like Dussehra, Diwali and others with great spirit in local trains. A similar mark of celebration was observed on Saturday, as the Western Railways'(WR)- World's first ladies special local train turned 26 years old.

To mark the occasion, ticket checkers greeted commuters with roses along with a feedback forms. Also, the train was decorated with bright yellow and orange marigold flowers to mark the event.

To recall, on May 5, 1992, the WR introduced a suburban train service to ferry only women passengers between the two stations. "Initially, there were only two daily services, but the number has now gone up to eight services a day- four each in the morning and evening peak hours," the official statement released from Western Railway Public Relation Office stated.

"The ladies special train service that first ran between Churchgate and Borivali station was later extended up to Virar in 1993. Since then, the train has been serving lakhs of women commuters daily," the statement added.

At present, the WR runs four services during the peak hours starting from Borivali, Bhayandar, Vasai Road and Virar stations that terminate at Churchgate and another four in the evening peak hours from Churchgate to Borivali, Bhayandar and Virar (two services) stations.

According to Ravinder Bhakar, the Chief spokesperson of Western Railways told reporters, "Dedicating an entire train to women commuters has gone down in the annals of history and the WR has become the torch-bearer for other Railways."

He was quoted further saying, "It is nothing less than a milestone that dedicating an entire train exclusively for women commuters for so many years has undoubtedly helped over one million-plus Mumbai women commuters to travel safely to and from their homes and workplaces."

Also, the women commuters applauded Western Railways' for giving them a  dedicated women train. Happy with the move, many cheered the occasion by sharing their experiences.

Following in the footsteps of Western Railway, the Central Railway (CR) also introduced suburban services exclusively for the women commuters on July 1, 1992, between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Kalyan. The CR runs four full and 24 partial ladies special services between CSMT and Kalyan corridor, the CSMT-Panvel corridor on the Harbour line currently.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 06, 2018 11:07 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).