A German rail company launched special train compartments designated as women-only, and they began rolling them out on several trains last month. In order to enforce the presence of only female passengers in the compartments, workers regularly check in. The compartments are available on services run by the Mitteldeutsche Regiobahn in the eastern part of Germany “We are implementing a request made by our customers,” MRB said in a statement to NBC News last month. They also said that the compartments “are primarily designed for women who are traveling alone.” The move was praised by Germany’s Pro Bahn passenger association, whose members number 5,000. “Some female individuals have voiced that they feel safer in open coach wagons, but especially regional trains on the route between Leipzig and Chemnitz still have compartments,” Pro Bahn’s Karl-Peter Naumann told NBC News. The gender segregation is optional for all passengers, so women can still sit in any other area of the train just as they normally might. MRB said it’s too early for them to tell whether the move would be widely embraced by passengers in practice.