Women-only train carriages

The issue of the problem is that men are committing sexual harassment, sexual assaults and they get away with it - not even a slap on the wrist

The police needs to start arresting those perpetrators and sending them to jail

I’ve not found I’ve needed one. Reminds me of trip to Dubai when we leapt on train just leaving station to find that husband and I were in women only carriage - after the doors had shut. He hastily made his way through to mens section expecting to be thrown into prison - was bit like fox in chicken coop.

As a regular train rider, I’m not sure I would like that to be segregated that’s history going back over. It’s 2022 not 1822. I do remember once thou going to see my oldest son and family on a train to Manchester. Train was really quiet then pulled into a station and it filled with football fans all singing etc it made me really nervous until this police officer sat next to me phew lol but they were no problem at all. That’s only time I was nervous on train. And I’ve being on with hens and stags and even Christmas Eve this year which felt like a booze train hardly anyone had a mask on but me and few others. But no train staff come through in the 2hrs I was on the train. Bring back conductors on all public transport and women wouldn’t need different part.

I really liked them .
I felt safe .
I was nearly raped on the rain twice as a teenager .

And about seven years ago I was sexually assaulted in a pub in broad daylight and at the busstop late at night .

It's not something that expect to happened when you are a grandma .

They aren't enough guards and there's too much reliance on CC TV - which is after the event and too fuzzy .

I think that we females are still vulnerable in this modern age .

With Scotland working to introduce discrimination laws on self declaration how will that work on women only train carriages. A body may look like a male, dress like a male but self declare to be a female. It's causing enough problems with changing rooms in stores. If seats are in short supply in standard carriages but available in women's only won't a male just say Oh,I'm actually a female. Ms Sturgeon will do anything for votes especially from the young. Women only carriages, bad idea.

I remember the women only waiting rooms and also the ladies only sections on the old Metropolitan tube line. Each carriage was divided into about 8 sections - they were not open plan- each section had its own doors and seated about 8 to 10 people - five a side facing each other- - rather like the trains with a corridor except that they had no corridor - so you were trapped in your section until you reached a station. Then you could open the appropriate door and get out- could see the point with trains like this.

From my experience banning alcohol on trains would improve matters, both from a safety point of view and the general ambience!

I used to catch the 8am to London Bridge in the 60s and always got in the Ladies only 8 seater carriage, with no corridor. However in these days I couldn’t trust the others, JKR, I would have to get in an open carriage to feel safe.

Pepper59

Id rather they had more guards on the trains.

Absolutely the best idea. Also far better cctv, easily monitored from a central point. The technology is available and I would personally feel a lot safer. Coming back by train from N.E. Scotland last year (the rules for masks were still in place but not enforced) on a very packed train from Haymarket, everyone was getting jostled. How do they propose to put aside a Women Only carriage that's got seating available without forceful, arrogant men demanding access? The whole thing is bonkers. As for who "identifies as female", I believe the situation has now become so woolly and confusing nobody's got a clue who is what gender, but there are nasty sods of every belief who will take advantage of someone in a vulnerable situation. More staff with more clout = more safety.

In the town I lived in, a rapist hid in the stalls in the “ladies”. It wasn’t well used so he had his pick of victims. I’d prefer to have mixed gender everything with small lockable stalls, in which no one can hide, but be private. I have a feeling a potential sex attacker would fine gender based train carriages very helpful indeed, if they are used by the minority of women. Most of us are accompanied by men and won’t want to be separated.

Not a good idea - blanket exclusion policies always cause problems. That said I'd very much welcome buses that prohibit the use of mobile phones on board!

I believe India has discontinued Ladies' carriages feeling that they were not modern or democratic.

I can't see the point of Women only carriages when biological males may define themselves as females and we are not allowed to comment or keep them out of women's public toilets.

The only way to make people safer, and I write people advisedly, is to make sure there are either traffic police or security guards on all trains and buses.

Men have been mugged or subjected to racist attacks or homosexual rape on trains. Women-only carriages won't prevent violence against men, will it?

This is just s thought …. instead of trying to sanction bad behaviour by isolating the target of it…. why not spend more money in school , on properly socialising young people to become decent members of society. Also put the blame where mostly it belongs ….on bad parenting!

MissAdventure

I would use this carriage.

youtu.be/xctzp0dp9uc

? Me too

Daisend1

Farzanah *a
Why sit women only if you had a male companion with you?
As said *women only*

A Good point.

It's a no from me.

I initially thought ‘what a good idea’ and then read the rest of Doodledog’s post and thought ‘perhaps not.’ So on balance, probably not.

It's more being alone in a totally empty carriage that is the problem, think I'd be moving to a busier one for my safety.

I wouldn't use them but not against having them for those that would As a Scot I have no problem with self identification ScotRail still have train managers/conductors / guards

I think mixed carriages are best but agree that more staff would be good. My pet hate is when I have a seat booked at a table and opposite is a man who rather than sit with knees bent sticks his legs out straight and onto my side of the space under the table. This has happened so many times that I now avoid booking a seat at a table if possible.

In the eighties I worked for the Women’s Committee of the Greater London Council which controlled public transport in London. We consulted with women and quite a lot said they would like women only carriages on the tubes but I advised the committee against it for many of the reasons discussed above. A government report on transport in London talked of the right of the Londoner to transport himself, his family and his goods throughout the city. So women were invisible to transport planners. I was often the only woman attending the Transport Committee among rows of men in suits. But more women use public transport than men. We carried out a survey of women in London and safety was a huge concern. Over 80% said they felt unsafe travelling by public transport in the evening. I did have a plan to light all bus stops but the GLC was abolished before this could be done. I also wanted to keep staff on buses and trains for safety reasons and to help with pushchairs and so on. But as someone said above, our society doesn’t think this is worth spending money on. When they were installing automatic gates on the tubes, I asked if they would be wide enough to get a pushchair through and this hadn’t been thought of at all. We were asked to support more funding for the Transport Police to improve women’s safety but when myself and the Chair of the Committee had a meeting with them all they wanted to talk to us about was what a temptation the young women police officers were, sitting with them in their cars all night and looking on them as heroes. From what we are seeing a the moment it seems the MET hasn’t’ changed that much even with a woman in charge.

That's depressing, Chaitriona, but thanks for trying!

There are ticket collecters/conductors on Scottish trains ,so they would be through a women only carriage regularly checking and selling tickets

I am not sure how much the presence of other people helps. As has been demonstrated lots of women are assaulted/threatened with plenty of people around them. Sorry I have depressed myself now.

Doodledog

Scotland's transport minister is considering introducing women-only train carriages to make women feel safer on trains. Do you think that this is a good idea? I'm not sure.

I think that being alone in a women's carriage is probably riskier than being in a mixed carriage with other people, but quite like the idea of there being somewhere to get away from stag parties or football trips, or even lone men who are threatening.

Having said that, I was once on a train that went past a women's prison, and the carriage filled with a rowdy group of women who had collected a friend who had been released. They had crates of beer, and were drunk, lairy and quite frightening. A woman sitting nearby (not me - I took a concentrated interest in my book!) asked one of them to stop smoking, and they poured beer over her and were very abusive until a guard arrived with transport police and threw them off. The guard didn't turn up for quite a while, though - I assume that someone had raised the alarm and the transport police got on at the next mainline station. A woman-only carriage wouldn't have helped this situation at all.

Also, I don't like the idea of peaceable young men and boys being stuck with stag parties and other rowdy groups of men either. They can be intimidating in non-sexual ways too, and women can sometimes be a civilising influence in those situations. As ever, the answer is surely to deal with the behaviour of the troublemakers, not to ask the well-behaved to alter their own behaviour instead?

Finally, and particularly in Scotland, what's the point of having women-only anything when 'women' includes men who claim to identify as such?

Yes, it’s the tarring certain groups with the same brush approach that I dislike. I remember being on a train with some young men who were being a bit boisterous, but inoffensive. They were called out by the guard and I challenged him as they weren’t offensive and were just being high spirited (and quite amusing). I have also been on a train with other young men whose behaviour I did find offensive and when given the opportunity to have my say, told them so.
So yes, we should focus on those who are causing problems for others whoever they might be and not put people in boxes.

Peasblossom

I suppose it’s a choice, like quiet carriages or, in past times, no smoking carriages.

Me, I’d welcome child and pet free carriages?

We could have a long train with one “free” carriage after another?

Ha ha! I went to visit a friend in Kent (from Worcestershire) last September. It was the first time I had been on a train since pre pandemic. I also had to pass through London. I decided to splash out and go first class (cheaper with a senior rail card). I loved it! Lots of space, fantastic service, lovely food and drinks and space. A young woman with a young (very chatty) child sat adjacent to me on my way back. I tried to zone out of the child’s voice and read my book. The guard came along and told them they didn’t have first class tickets, so had to move. I was very conflicted about this, I enjoyed the experience, but appreciate that it’s not an option available to everyone. My justification was that I had spent very little money during lockdown.