Berth pangs: Railways launch 'baby berths', but mothers are not happy

The Northern Railway recently introduced foldable baby berths with good intention and a lot of heart. But, the good idea went off the rails, as Twitter users picked out the glaring basic flaws in the design and felt few mothers would actually want to place their babies on it.

To coincide with Mother’s Day on Sunday (May 8), Northern Railway tweeted about their all-new foldable baby berths for infants which are attached to the lower main berths on an experimental basis on Lucknow Mail. “This will facilitate mothers travelling with their babies. The fitted baby seat is foldable & secured with a stopper,” the DRM Lucknow tweeted.

But, just a few Twitter users green-lighted their initiative and praised them for an “innovative” move. Many went all out to slam the Railways for not even getting the basics right and felt no mother would want to use it. The design ignores the first cardinal concept that parents sleeping with children in trains always keep their baby/toddler on the inside of the berth and not on the edge to avoid the possibility of the child falling off.

“No moms were consulted in the making of this baby berth,” remarked journalist Faye DSouza.

The design speaks for itself, said another Twitter user, calling it a design “out of touch with reality, at best”. Yet another exclaimed, “Baby berth towards the edge? Bad design. There is a risk of baby falling down. Seat stopper also seems useless. Design can be improved.”

Everyone hammered away at the complete lack of design sense. Another suggested a barricade with less width so the child cannot slip through the metal rod, and also offered the idea of a strap to keep the child tucked in safely.

Besides the chance of a baby rolling off the berth at night, the baby in this situation is also vulnerable to things spilling from the top berth. It could be a hard object or hot coffee! Even a peanut (the all-time favourite train snack in India) from up there can hurt if it falls on the baby’s face.

One user termed it as “unsafe”, as toddlers can walk away or be frisked away by kidnappers. Some have dubbed it as unhygienic as well since it will be tucked underneath by the feet when not in use.

The Northern Railways meanwhile is all set to expand the concept of baby berths to other train services, based on the feedback received by railway passengers on the new product. It is not available for booking as yet.

According to officials, once the Railway try it out more and record the feedback, they will put the necessary details on the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), where the berths can be booked by passengers on request. However, the Railways may want to first pay heed to motherly advice from netizens and get the fundamentals right.