The baby berth initiative has elicited mixed reactions from passengers.
New Delhi: Is Indian Railways going to do away with the Baby Berth Project? This is a question that has caused anxiety and uncertainty among the train passengers, especially women who travel with their babies and young children.
The Indian Railways is undertaking initiatives to enhance the comfort of journeys in sleeper and higher class coaches. To achieve this, they have introduced extra mattresses for the side lower berths on certain trains and initiated a pilot project for baby berth seats. In a trial run, two baby berths were provided in the Lucknow Mail to make travel more convenient for mothers with infants.
In response to inquiries about the government’s initiative to equip all trains with baby berth seats, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw reported to the Rajya Sabha that the pilot project had uncovered issues experienced by passengers.
“To facilitate ease of travel for mothers travelling with their babies, two baby berths were provided as an attachment to two lower berths in one coach of Train No. 12229/30 Lucknow Mail on a trial basis,” said Vaishnaw in a written reply adding that while passengers appreciated the railway’s initiative, they also shared their problems caused by the baby berth attachment.
“Initial passenger feedback appreciated the effort. However, inter-alia issues of restricted luggage space below the seat and reduced knee space between the seats causing inconvenience to passengers have been observed,” he added as he shared that the Indian Railways is working to make modifications and upgradation in passenger coaches accordingly before rolling out the feature.
This implies that if you were anticipating the feature’s arrival, you might have to wait a bit longer until the railways implement the changes requested by the passengers.
The baby berth initiative has elicited mixed reactions from passengers; while some have commended the effort, others have criticized the seats as unsafe and impractical. Passengers have suggested that the railways should have sought input from women before introducing the concept.