Taking public transportation, especially in a foreign country, can be quite difficult.  For solo female travelers, taking the train in India (and other countries) can also be uncomfortable because of the unwanted attention they may receive. While this is not a common problem, it has been known to happen. However, there is a little known luxury offered to female train travelers in the Subcontinent’s largest cities: women-only trains. This rail service offers travelers a chance to ride without the fear of unwanted attention and also to make social connections with local female commuters.

Thus far, there are only a handful of these trains in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. They are mostly used by local women commuting to and from the workplace, but can be useful for female tourists who want to avoid possible harassment on regular local trains. The New York Times recently ran a piece on this service, which has been dubbed the “Ladies Special” by local users.

India’s all-female trains are not a completely novel idea. Other countries have instituted similar services. While some groups have criticized the gender-exclusive cars as a form of segregation, others consider it a positive because of the increased feeling of comfort and security.

In Japan, female commuters often complain that men grope them on crowded rush-hour trains (2,000 arrests for sexual harassment were made on the subway in 2007). The complaints were bad enough that Tokyo began offering women-only subway cars (Source: Reuters). Provided they are able to locate these cars, female travelers can take advantage of this service as well. It is a little easier to tell women-only train cars in Brazil. They are the ones with the big pink stripes on the side. Dubai, Egypt, and Taiwan also offer separate cars for female passengers.

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