Metro Railway’s move on Monday to disband two compartments for women and restore the system of reserving two rows in every coach for them was greeted with both cheers and jeers.

The women’s coaches were introduced on September 1 on an experimental basis for two months. But last Friday, the authorities announced that the earlier system would be restored following “a large number of complaints” from commuters.

“The experience over the past week shows the system of reserving coaches for women was not convenient. So, we decided to scrap it,” a Metro Railway official said on Monday.

Men seemed the happiest at the scrapping of the women’s coaches.

Tollygunge resident Shoumik Saha was relieved that he wouldn’t have to miss a train with “overcrowded general compartments” and “relatively empty” female coaches. “I welcome the move to restore the earlier system.”

Meghna Dass, a regular commuter, said she was glad that the earlier system had been restored.

“There are more women on a train than two compartments can accommodate. The system of reserving two rows in every coach makes more sense,” she added.

Some female commuters, however, felt that the interim system would have worked better had it been properly publicised and enforced.

“It’s convenient to have a women’s compartment at either end,” said S. Janani.

“We are more comfortable standing among women than men,” added co-passenger Vaishali Sakhail.