World's first ladies special train by Western Railway completes 26 years

The world's first ladies special train on Western Railway will mark 26 years of its introduction since it first ran between Churchgate and Borivali on 5th May, 1992.

Ravinder Bhakar, Chief Public Relations Officer, Western Railway said, "This was further extended upto Virar in 1993 and it has been running regularly ever since".

The 1990s saw immense industrial and commercial growth towards the southern side of Mumbai and also an increase in number of working women, especially commuting from north of Mumbai. The ladies special has been a boon for the working women who had to earlier struggle to board the ladies compartment in the regular trains.

At present, Western Railway operates 8 Ladies Special services in a day, divided equally during the morning and evening peak hours between the UP and DOWN lines. WR has installed CCTV cameras in many of the ladies coaches. Talk-back System is a new security measure introduced by WR last year, on the occasion of International Women’s Day. 

In this system, two-way communication is established between a commuter in any of the ladies coach and the guard of the train in the event of any emergency by pressing a button on the unit. This  benefits lady passengers, especially, during any exigencies such as security or medical issues.