Women want female-only Dubai Metro carriages at all times

At present one of the five carriages on each train are women-only during peak morning and evening hours but women say men do not always adhere to the rules.

Appeals have been made for a women’s only carriage. Satish Kumar / The National
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DUBAI // Women commuters are calling on exclusive carriages for them on the Dubai Metro throughout the day, instead of just peak hours.

Each train has a carriage reserved for women from 7am to 9am and from 5pm to 8pm on weekdays.

“There is not enough space for women,” said Samah Vershkova, who travels from the Etisalat station to Jumeirah every day for work.

“The carriages should not be reserved only during peak hours because very often men do not get up and give space for women travelling with babies,” said the Ukrainian.

Sameena Rajwate, a housewife who uses the metro to drop her children at school, agreed that women needed more space. “Although during peak hours it is reserved, men usually crowd near the women’s carriage or cross over. It should be reserved for women at all times,” said the Indian.

Abdullah Yousef Al Ali, acting chief executive of the Rail Agency, said there were no immediate plans to do this.

“The Dubai Metro has been running for five years and the RTA continues to make improvements to the network and the way that it is run.

“Sometimes it seems slow to make these changes but they are all considered over time and introduced gradually.”

Domestic and blue-collared workers also said the trains should start operating earlier on Fridays.

“It would be better if the metro started by 7am or 8am, as 1pm is very late for us,” said Angela, a nanny, who preferred to give only her first name. “Many of us have Fridays off and have to wait until afternoon to take the metro.”

However, RTA said it was not possible as heavy maintenance works were undertaken on Fridays.

pkannan@thenational.ae