Women-only coaches were introduced Monday on notorious JR Saikyo Line trains during the morning rush hour to protect women from molesters, East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) said.
Until now, only one carriage on each train on the Saikyo Line between Saitama Prefecture and central Tokyo had been designated as a women-only car and this was available only late at night.
From Monday, however, the very first carriage on every one of 35 Tokyo area-bound trains operating during the morning rush hour has been set aside exclusively for women.
Only several women were standing on the woman-only car of the train that arrived at Ikebukuro Station at 7:30 a.m. while the other carriages were packed.
Passengers generally welcomed the introduction of women-only coaches during the morning rush hour, while some pointed to the necessity to ease congestion of other vehicles.
"I had been worried only because men are in the same carriages in the morning," Tomoyo Okamoto, 27, an office worker from Warabi, Saitama Prefecture, said. "I'm relieved now."
"It's a good change because I no longer have to carry a bag and hang onto a strap to avoid being mistaken for a molester," Hitoshi Ishida, 53, a company employee from the Saitama Prefecture city of Kawaguchi, said. "But if other carriages are more crowded as a result, the railway operator should set some other coaches aside for elderly people."
The JR Saikyo Line is infamous for having the largest number of molestation cases on a single train line. Last year, 217 cases in which men molested women on trains were reported on the line.
Since July 2001, JR East has designated one carriage on each Saitama-bound Saikyo Line train late night as a women-only carriage. However, the company had been reluctant to introduce such carriages during morning rush hours on the grounds that it would contribute to congestion in other cars.
Ten other railway operators in the Kanto region, including major private railways and the subway system run by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, will also set some carriages aside exclusively for women during morning rush hours, beginning in May. (Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, April 4, 2005)