Female commuters protest against coach withdrawal

A good many female passengers of the Dhaka-Gazipur commuter train demonstrated at Kamalapur on Thursday as the Bangladesh Railway recently withdrew one out of two dedicated coaches for them.
According to them, the BR withdrew the coach two weeks ago without any announcement leaving them to face harassment while commuting during office hours.
The FE found some ladies gathered in front of the station manager's room around 10:30 am, demanding reinstatement of the carriage with the train.
However, the master was not present at that time.
Baby Akter, who works in an IT firm, said two coaches were introduced in 2021 after a long demand as travelling by Titas Express was impossible for women for overcrowding.
The demonstrators, mostly office-goers, also alleged that after withdrawal, they even could not get into other coaches for obstruction by male passengers.
"Two coaches weren't enough to meet the demand for female passengers on this route," said commuter Sharmin who works in an insurance company.
A staff member of the master's room listened to the ladies but expressed his ignorance about withdrawal of the coach.
He, however, assured the aggrieved ladies, including a Bangladesh Bank official, of looking into the matter.
Talking to the FE, he said the coach might be withdrawn for an overhaul.
The demonstrators further said that the authorities would not give any attention to female commuters' woes.
They demanded deployment of security personal at the time of boarding crammed trains as they had to face abuses and slurs from some male passengers.

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