Central Railway (CR) on Wednesday unveiled a slew of projects it intends to complete in 2018 on its suburban section in Mumbai.
Chief among them is to install CCTV cameras in every local train coach by the end of the year. The project will cost ₹ 276 crore and has received budgetary sanctions. CR will purchase 11,160 CCTV cameras — six for each coach. “We have asked for advanced CCTV systems which will have facial recognition capabilities and analytics,” S.K. Jain, Divisional Regional Manager (CR), said.
Railway officials said they want a system that will enable them to track the movements of a person against whom a complaint has been made. This is difficult in the current CCTV system, given the sheer size of the suburban network. CR has also proposed installing a talk-back system for all the women’s coaches. The system, which the Metro has, allows women to talk to the motorman in case of an emergency. The railway board has approved the proposal and plans are under way to procure 1,106 devices.
CR also intends to raise all platforms by the end of the year. It will raise the levels of 67 platforms in 2018, as compared to 31 in 2017. “The funds for this used to be under passenger amenities. They are now being sanctioned under safety and security, which gets more priority,” Mr. Jain said. All stations and railway offices on CR’s suburban section will get LED lights, and over 25 foot overbridges (FOBs), including the ones that are currently being built by the Army, will be functional by the end of the year.
Mr. Jain said they intend to set up escalators in every station, and start 14 more emergency medical rooms at various stations by April.
On Republic Day, CR will inaugurate a series of amenities and services. Five FOBs, two EMRs and a booking office in Kings Circle station along with two escalators and five lifts. Two services will be run from Neral to Matheran on Republic Day.
Megablock
As many as 42 train services will be cancelled due to a five-hour mega block between Ambivali and Asangaon stations on Thursday, when the Army will launch the girders of the FOB it is constructing at Ambivali. Down suburban train services for Titwala/Asangaon/Kasara leaving Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) between 9.12 a.m and 1.30 p.m, and up services towards CSMT from Kasara/Asangaon/Titwala between 9.54 am and 3.02 p.m. will be cancelled. Four outstation trains will also be cancelled, and 16 will be rescheduled. Supplementary bus services have been arranged to to Kalyan station, and CR will run 30 special services from Kalyan to CSMT and Kurla.
