Northern Railway introduces foldable baby berths on trains to support mothers

The Indian Railways has added a ‘much-needed’ feature to trains that will make it easier for moms to commute.

Northern Railway introduced baby births in an effort to make travelling with infants more comfortable.

The function, which was developed in collaboration with the North Railways’ Lucknow and Delhi divisions, was launched on Mother’s Day.

According to an Economic Times report, the berth was fitted as a test project on berths 12 and 60 of the AC three-tier (194129/C) B4 carriage of superfast express Lucknow Mail 12230.

The Northern Railway released a few photographs of the folding infant berth on social media, which features a guardrail to prevent children from tumbling.

“On Mother’s Day, Lucknow Divn of N.Rly. introduced a baby berth on an experimental basis in Coach No.194129/B4, berth No 12 & 60. This will facilitate mothers travelling with their babies,” Northern Railway wrote.

Officials indicated that plans to expand the concept to additional trains will be drawn depending on customer input.

This is a pilot programme that will be expanded after we receive positive feedback from passengers. Once we try it out more and record the feedback, we will put the necessary details on CRIS (Centre for Railway Information Systems) where it can be booked on request,” said a Northern Railway official.

“The (booking) system will be like the one we currently use to offer senior citizens lower berths. So, once, a passenger says yes to travelling with a child, we will offer the berth to them. However, it is now at a nascent stage,” the official added.

Netizens applauded the move, with several suggesting that the berths be implemented on all trains.