KUALA LUMPUR - Many women and men were caught by surprise yesterday when they discovered that KTM Komuter had begun offering a separate coach for women travelling on the Sentul-Port Klang route.
Some men who were seen sitting in the coach were directed by KTM enforcement officers to move to the mixed-gender coaches.
Most women passengers interviewed said they felt safer travelling in the women-only coach.
Student N. Arunmoli, 20, who had been taking the commuter train for two years, said she felt safer because some foreign men had in the past tailed her and sat beside her even when there were many other empty seats.
"I used to feel unsafe especially on days when I had night classes. Nowadays, I don't take the train at night but get a family member to pick me up from Brickfields," she said.
Self-employed Dayang Kartini Zainal, 27, said she liked the women-only coach as she didn't have to put up with the unwanted stares from some foreign men.
KTM Bhd introduced its first women-only coach to provide more comfort and security to women.
The coach, located in the middle of three coaches of every commuter train, has pink "women-only" stickers placed on the windows.
Accounts executive Ng Hooi Mooi, 31, said the women-only coach was more comfortable than mixed gender coaches which were sometimes too crowded, stuffy and filled with body odour.
However, some asked whether sons who accompanied ageing mothers or women with husbands and children in tow could enter the coach.
Sales executive Joey Cheng, 33, who commutes from Serdang to Sentul daily said the special coach was unnecessary and KTM should add more trains and ensure their punctuality instead.
She also said it would be a waste of space during peak hours if there were fewer women than men.
Editor Siti Asyuura, 27, said it would be better if the all-women coach was added rather than taken from existing coaches.
KTM Bhd acting commuter services general manager Hider Yusoff said women were only allowed to bring children aged 12 and below into the women-only coaches while their husbands had to use the regular coaches. But families can opt to travel together in the regular coaches.
Asked if men would be allowed in women coaches if the normal coaches were full during peak hours, Hider said station masters would allow it if necessary.
