Railways will permit women to travel by Special Suburban Services in Chennai during non-peak hours on weekdays and throughout the day on Sundays from November 23, said Union Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal. "From 23rd November, Railways permits women to travel by Special Suburban Services in Chennai during non-peak hours on weekdays and throughout the day on Sundays. This will greatly benefit women passengers, making their travel safe, easy & convenient," Goyal tweeted.

An official statement said the Southern Railway has scaled up the number of suburban services in the Chennai area to 244 trains per day (around 40 per cent of pre-COVID-19 level) to cater to the travel needs of essential services staff of both government and other organisations. It is now decided to permit, from November 23 onwards, lady passengers (who are not coming under the category of essential services staff) to travel in Chennai Suburban trains during the non-peak hours are reckoned from the early hours of the day to 07:00 hours in the morning, 10:00 to 16:30 hours and from 19:30 hours to the closing hours of the day.

"Lady passengers shall be permitted to commence their journeys at the boarding points during the non-peak hours as stipulated above. They are allowed to travel either using their season tickets or on the purchase of single journey tickets," the statement added.