Women-only coaches are not new to Malaysia. While Rapid KL introduced them in 2023, they have been on KTM Komuter trains since 2010, providing women with a safer, more comfortable travel option. — Filepic/The Star
Earlier this month, a user on social media site Xiaohongshu shared a problem she faced while riding the MRT Putrajaya line in the Klang Valley: Three men had walked into the women’s only coach, sat down, removed their shoes, and placed their feet on the seats.
Putting aside the issue of podiatric hygiene, the obvious truth is that only women are allowed to be in the MRT’s women’s coach marked by pink borders. But some men like to step where they’re not meant to and see how many lines they can cross.
For example, last year in July a man argued he needed to be in the women’s only coach so he could be near his young daughters. He eloquently presented his argument by telling the woman arguing with him to “shut up”. “Ask the police to catch me,” he said in a video clip, “I dare you.”
It’s not like women’s only coaches are a novelty in Malaysia. While they were only introduced on the MRT system in September 2023, they have been a mainstay on KTM Komuter trains since April 2010. The rationale, simply put, is to provide a more secure and comfortable way for women to travel on the trains.
However, from its early days, there has been a problem with men trying to skirt the regulations, and a 2014 survey found that commuters thought there was a lack of enforcement in women-only coaches. Meanwhile there have been complaints that the coaches are not always fully utilised while the rest of the train is crowded.
Despite these challenges, the policy has persisted. In 2023, Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd announced it would embark on an education campaign about proper usage of the women-only coaches, and then a year later, the government announced that it was considering drafting a law that would fine men found in women’s coaches.
Of course, Malaysia isn’t treading uncharted territory here. Several train systems around the world have, or have had, similar provisions, including in Indonesia, Japan, and the Middle East.
Japan’s women-only cars date back to 1912, but the policy on modern trains was put in place in the early 2000s after pressure from anti-harassment organisations to address the rising problem of public harassment (known in Japan as chikan). A 2005 investigation found that more than half of women passengers had at some point been groped on trains around Tokyo.
Similar to Malaysia, there isn’t currently a specific law prohibiting a man from entering a woman’s only carriage in Japan. Instead, the social stigma against doing it is strong. In 2023, an Australian filmed himself getting on one and was roundly criticised by the Japanese public for his blatant disregard of social norms.
And like Malaysia, while women in Japan are largely satisfied by this policy, many men complain about how “discriminatory” it is, or how it makes rush hour even more crowded than usual.
The United Kingdom also has a history with “Ladies Only” carriages. In 1874, London’s Metro-politan Railway introduced them in response to increasing attacks on women travellers. One particularly high profile case was an assault by an army colonel on a 22-year-old woman that resulted in her trying to escape him by hanging half-outside the carriage window for several miles.
However, these carriages didn’t really catch on. Reasons ranged from perceived comfort (“too many children”) to whether it was “fashionable” (“only spinsters go there”). Some women even found them too empty, paradoxically feeling safer in the busier mixed carriages.
The under use of these carriages also caused a lot of resentment among men who felt they were now cramped into the remaining carriages. There were even instances of them berating women who chose to travel alongside them.
Eventually, the carriages were phased out. While there have been occasional calls for their reinstatement in recent years, there’s been significant resistance. A report by Middlesex University for the Department of Transport in 2014 labelled the idea a “retrograde step” that “could be thought of as insulting, patronising, and shaming to both men and women”.
A similar controversy arose in Jerusalem, on the “Mehadrin” bus lines operating in ultra-Orthodox Jewish areas in the early 2000s. These buses enforced strict gender segregation, requiring women to sit at the back, use a separate entrance, and adhere to “modest dress” codes.
However, in January 2011, the Israeli High Court of Justice ruled that such gender segregation is unlawful and abolished these public buses. Yet, even after the ruling, some men continued to harass women who sit in the “wrong” section.
What strikes me about all of this is how the concept of a women’s only coach carries different connotations depending on where you are in the world. For Malaysia, it means that women are harassed in public and need help to find safe spaces. In Jerusalem, they were about accommodating strict religious views, potentially at the expense of women’s autonomy. In the UK, the idea provokes the response that women don’t need to be treated as a “fairer sex” and kept safe while in a crowded public space.
In a way, the presence, the level of support, and the societal tolerance for women’s only coaches can be seen as a barometer of how a society treats its women. Personally, I see forced segregation as the least preferable method, and giving women the choice of single- or mixed-gender carriages as a small step above.
But the ultimate goal should be to reach a point where such a policy isn’t necessary in the first place.
Women’s-only coaches are a stark indicator of flaws within our society, where some men feel entitled to take advantage of the anonymity and close proximity while travelling in crowded trains to harass and intimidate women.
What I would like to see are these women-only coaches reminding women that it is absolutely OK to stand up, point out wrong behaviours, and say unequivocally, “This is wrong”. Too often I’ve witnessed men watching men trespassing in the women’s only coach, and nobody says anything.
Fortunately, in the incident that sparked this column, the Xiao-hongshu user did the right thing: She texted Rapid KL about the situation and at the very next station, a polis bantuan (auxiliary police) officer boarded the train and politely but firmly asked the men to leave.
Perhaps these women-only coaches, while a temporary necessity, can also be a training ground for a future where all public spaces are safe and respectful for everyone, with no need to explicitly draw out any lines reminding people of their boundaries.
