Railways Ministry to Install IP-Based Video Surveillance System at Stations Under Nirbhaya Funds

In its major step to enhance security at Railway stations, the Ministry of Railways has installed the Internet Protocol (IP) based Video Surveillance System (VSS) at the stations across the country, which has been duly approved by the ministry under Nirbhaya funds.

RailTel, which is a Mini Ratna Central Government Public Sector Undertaking (PSU), under the Ministry of Railways-- entrusted with the implementation of the Video Surveillance System (VSS) project (CCTV cameras network) under the Nirbhaya Fund at Railway Stations has taken this major step by finalising the agencies for executing the job.

The first phase of the project will cover major stations of categories A1, A, B, C numbering 756 and is likely to be completed by January 2023. The remaining stations will be covered in the second phase of VSS implementation.

The safety and security of the passengers is one of the key focus areas of the Ministry of Railways.

"In order to enhance security at Railway stations which are major hubs of transportation, Indian Railways is in the process of installing Internet Protocol (IP) based Video Surveillance System (VSS) at stations, that is, in the waiting halls, reservation counters, parking areas, main entrance/ exit, platforms, foot over bridges, booking offices etc," read an official statement.

Ministry of Railways has approved the provision of VSS over the major stations of the Indian Railways under Nirbhaya funds.

Earlier, Minister for Railways Ashwani Vaishnaw said, "We Need to rapidly absorb new technology in Railways, be it for rolling stock, construction, safety, cyber security, or in situations where there is a human interface."

"RailTel assured that with the finalisation of the executing agencies, the implementation of the project will be fast-tracked. The most modern software and hardware will be used in this (VSS) project, Aruna Singh, Chairman and Managing Director said.

She further said that this VSS system will be IP-based and will have a network of CCTV cameras. "These CCTVs are being networked on optical fibre cable and the video feed of the CCTV cameras will be displayed not only at local RPF posts but also at centralised CCTV control rooms at divisional and zonal levels," she added.

The CCTV cameras of stations and video feeds will be monitored at these three levels-- Local RPF, Centralised Divisional Level, and Zonal levels to ensure enhanced safety and security at the Railway premises.

The system came with Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled Video Analytics Software and Facial Recognition Software which will help detect known criminals by triggering an alert as soon as they enter the station premises.

Network Management System (NMS) has been also been provided by the Ministry for monitoring Cameras, Servers, UPS and Switches which can be viewed from any web browser by any authorised personnel.

According to the minister, as many as four types of IP cameras-- Dome type, Bullet type, Pan Tilt Zoom type, and Ultra HD- 4k-- are being installed to ensure maximum coverage of the Railway premises. This will give an extra edge to the RPF officials for ensuring enhanced security. The recording of the video feeds from CCTV cameras will stay stored for 30 days.

The implemented system shall act as a tool to respond to situations/incidents effectively, aiding faster decision making, and acting as great learning for better preparedness to meet any incident and eventualities with some software-based applications such as Video Analytics and Face Recognition, as per the RDSO Version 6.0.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled analytics software has the aforesaid features with a certain alarm and Pop up view at the Operator end.