“I feel unsafe at night on trains. I always feel like someone might attack me,” says Bindhu, a regular commuter who often travels alone between districts in Kerala. Her words summed up what countless women experience every day on trains, the quiet worry that danger could appear at any moment.

After a shocking incident in Kerala where a young woman was pushed out of a moving train by a drunk passenger, concerns over women’s safety on trains have once again come to the forefront. To understand how secure women passengers really are, Onmanorama travelled from Kottayam to Palakkad, speaking to commuters and railway officers along the way. What unfolded was a troubling picture of overcrowded compartments, missing security personnel, and a system still struggling to guarantee even the most basic safety.

The Chennai Mail from Kottayam to Palakkad departed at 5:50 pm on a Friday evening, one of the busiest times of the week for train travel. The platform was teeming with passengers rushing to board, and the compartments were already packed before the train even arrived. Friday evenings are notorious for weekend traffic, and the rush was a reminder of how dependent Kerala remains on its railway network. At Kottayam railway station, uniformed officers from the Kerala Railway Police and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) could be seen patrolling the platforms and checking compartments before departure.

“Officials are a must at railway stations. We check all the train coaches, and if we find anyone suspicious, we remove them from the train,” said Santhosh, Grade SI of the Kerala Railway Police. “Just now, we deboarded two people who were drunk. We could smell alcohol on them. We also don’t let anyone sit near the doors,” he said, his tone firm yet weary, the kind that comes from dealing with daily chaos.

For many women passengers, the sight of uniformed police offered some relief. “When something happens, we immediately inform our senior officers and take action. Whenever someone calls for help, we respond right away,” said Biyona Isac, a GRP Civil Police officer on duty at the station. “Even if someone is travelling alone, we make sure they feel they’re not alone.”

Among the women waiting to board, some shared that while they hadn’t faced harassment themselves, they had seen men boarding trains in an inebriated state. “I haven’t experienced anything bad personally,” said Swapna, another passenger. “But I’ve seen drunk people get on trains. It makes me nervous.”

Despite these fears, the railway helpline number, 139, printed on the back of every ticket and inside compartments, was not widely known among passengers. Some had heard of it but never used it, while others had no idea such a number existed.

Once on board the Chennai Mail, the atmosphere turned stifling. The compartments were jammed with passengers: men, women, and children, standing shoulder to shoulder with barely any space to move. This particular route, popular among students and office workers, offers few alternatives. As the train moved past Ernakulam, more passengers poured in. The air grew heavy, the noise relentless, and movement nearly impossible.

Between Ernakulam and Aluva, an incident broke the monotony. A man began pushing against women standing near the aisle. When asked to move, he ignored them, scrolling casually through his phone. Some female students said the same man had brushed against them earlier. When the train reached Thrissur, one of the students, Anupama, recalled the moment. “That man kept pushing us. A male passenger sitting nearby even typed a message on his phone and showed it to us, warning that the guy looked troublesome and that we should be careful,” she said.

Even after Thrissur, where the crowd thinned slightly, people continued to stand near the doors — some even sitting and smoking. The areas near the toilets, often hotspots for harassment, had no visible monitoring. During the entire five-hour journey, not a single RPF or GRP officer entered the coach for inspection. The travelling ticket examiner was also missing. No one seemed to be keeping track of who boarded or how crowded the coaches had become.

According to railway guidelines, RPF and GRP officers are expected to conduct regular checks, especially on night trains. Some long-distance routes even have Meri Saheli teams — women constables who interact with female passengers and ensure their safety. But on this journey, those safety measures were nowhere to be seen. The absence of visible policing inside the train left an unmistakable sense of unease among passengers already alert after recent incidents.

When the train finally reached Palakkad, Onmanorama approached railway police officers at the station to report the harassment incident. The officer on duty listened carefully and asked to register it officially. “Please dial 139 and file a report,” he said. “Mention the train number, place, and time. Since more than one person faced issues, it will help us identify if the person is a habitual offender.”

Dialling the helpline, however, revealed how cumbersome the process was. Callers had to choose a language, enter the train and PNR numbers, and then explain the complaint — a time-consuming series of steps that felt frustratingly impractical in an emergency. The response speed simply didn’t match the urgency of the situation.

For most women, train travel remains a necessity, not a choice. They travel long distances daily — for work, for family — trusting that they’ll make it home safely. Despite increased police presence at stations, the lack of consistent monitoring inside the coaches remains a glaring gap. Safety campaigns, digital initiatives, and helplines exist on paper, but they often fail when passengers need them most.

The railway helpline number 139, police emergency number 112, and WhatsApp helpline 94979 35859 are key tools for anyone seeking help. Complaints can also be registered through the RailMadad app or via the Railways’ social media handles like @RailMinIndia. Yet, awareness remains low, and accessibility uneven.

As the train emptied at Palakkad and passengers melted into the night, one truth stood out: women continue to travel, often alone, armed only with alertness and hope. Their safety still feels like a matter of chance rather than certainty.