For Our Safety? Railways to Install 12 Lakh CCTV Cameras In 11,000 Trains

The Govt is expected to set aside around Rs 3000 crore in the 2018-19 Budget for installing CCTV cameras.

For Our Safety? Railways to Install 12 Lakh CCTV Cameras In 11,000 Trains

The Indian Railways will reportedly procure approximately 12 lakh CCTV cameras in its bid to provide passengers with a safer and more secure travel experience. In order to procure these CCTV cameras, the government is expected to set aside around Rs 3000 crore in Budget 2018.

According to Railway officials, this would ensure the presence of state-of-the-art surveillance systems across all trains and stations operating in this country.

This amount, however, is not expected to cover the cost of buying these cameras, and expectations are that the Indian Railways may enter the market and raise the necessary capital. These cameras will be installed in all 11,000 trains, spread across premier and suburban services, and 8,500 stations.

For representational purposes only (Source: Pixabay)
For representational purposes only (Source: Pixabay)

There will be eight CCTV cameras installed in each coach “covering the entry gates, aisle and vestibules,” in addition to all significant blind spots in train stations, according to Indo-Asian News Service. At present approximately 395 stations and 50 trains are equipped with CCTV cameras.

“All mail/express and premier trains, including Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto and local passenger services, will be equipped with the modern surveillance systems in the next two years,” said a senior Railway Ministry official to IANS.

The footage generated by these cameras will constantly be monitored by trained personnel of the Railway Protection Force. According to the Press Trust of India, the station master is also expected to be given access to watch the CCTV footage.

On Saturday, The Better India brought to your attention how the Central Railways (CR), a unit of the Indian Railways, is looking to install additional cameras with facial recognition software.

Read also: See a Drone Hovering over Train Tracks? Here’s What the Railways Will Be Doing

These cameras are expected to aid the process of tracking the past movements of an offender who enters coaches reserved for women on a local train so as to arrest the person on his next trip.

By the end of 2018, reports state that six such cameras will be installed in each coach of trains operating under CR. In total, the railway body is expected to procure 11,160 such cameras.

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