TRANSPORT: Women afraid to travel by train

Women should be free from fear when travelling by train and more should be done to make journeys safer for them, according to a report published yesterday. Women wanted to know that help was at hand from well- trained and visible staff, the report added.

Poor carriage layout, doors and windows not opening, and badly designed overhead racks were just some of the problems cited.

The report - by the south-east England section of the working women's group Soroptimist International - calls for measures to make the communication cord easier to reach on certain trains, emergency help points on every station, better public information and better carriage design.