CR to power up CST cams with new software to strengthen electronic surveillance

Cameras at key Central Railway stations are set to get smarter with video-analytical software to strengthen electronic surveillance. The software sends an alert abo ut unusual activity or any intrusion that security personnel can attend to on a priority.

The software will be used as a pilot project at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), which has maxi mum footfalls, to detect loiterers, curb tampering of railway equipment or sounds of gunshots, said se nior railway cofficials.

Security has been a huge concern after CST was targetted during the 2611terror attacks. Using videoanalytics will reduce the workload on Railway Protection Force (RPF) operators who find it nearly impossible to constantly monitor feeds from the various cameras installed at the station.

“While installing the software, one has to set up parameters for the activity being looked at, like a person trying to gain access to restricted premises. Then the alert notification system has to be set up. Now, every time the software detects something that meets its search criteria, it will trigger off an alert,“ an official said. Multiple images of the situation will start popping up on the screen and the operator can immediately tell his colleagues to attend to it, he added.

“The software will make IP cameras more intelligent. We can keep tabs on any intrusion into ticket booking offices, abandoning of objects or their removal and defacement of railway property ,“ the railway official said. Direction of movement can also be defined so the system generates triggers only when individuals move in a particular direction across an area.

Eight vehicle scanners, totally worth Rs 2.3 crore, will also be purchased, of which two will be used at CST. Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) is likely to be the next to get the scanners.

Western Railway will set up two baggage scanners at Bandra Terminus and Mumbai Central Terminus within two months.

But railway officials admitted that the sheer volume of vehicles and passengers arriving at railway termini make it impossible to examine each of them. The scanners will be used for select vehicles or baggage that security personnel find suspicious, or when a high alert is declared.

WR also plans to add seven dogs to its canine squad. At present, it has three dogs and three are being trained.

http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=CR-to-power-up-CST-cams-with-new-26112015005014#

 

‘Suvidha’ squads to check ticketless travel

A month ago, when M. Shounak boarded Madras-Howrah Coromandel Express, he found some unreserved passengers sitting outside the toilet. He had to complain to the Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel to send them back to their respective compartments.

Such instances are common on most north-bound trains, say RPF personnel. “It is extremely unsafe for women passengers. Even if the police chase them away, these passengers return,” said Mr. Shounak. As there have been many complaints about unreserved passengers entering the sleeper class and bogies reserved for the disabled, the RPF has formed a ‘suvidha’ squad. A total of 52 personnel will be part of the squad and they will work in two shifts – 5 a.m to noon and 5 p.m to midnight. “Constables will check tickets at both entrances of the compartment. There will be two constables for each bogie. They will only allow passengers who have valid tickets,” said an RPF source.

The RPF did a detailed analysis of the trains before forming the squads.

“We have identified 22 trains that face the problem of unreserved passengers travelling in reserved coaches. Most of them are trains going to various places, including Kolkata, Puri and Jaipur, from the south,” said an RPF personnel.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/suvidha-squads-to-check-ticketless-travel/article7905009.ece

 

Railways rescue destitute children in Waltair division

In an act not strictly in its list of primary responsibilities, the Indian Railways has been rescuing destitute children who are found in running trains and railway stations and other railway properties.

According to Chandralekha Mukherjee, divisional railway manager of Waltair division of East Coast Railway (ECoR), as many as 75 destitute children including girls were rescued by the division from April to October this fiscal from 117 railway stations in its jurisdiction in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

“The railways always give top priority to safety and security. Rescuing children of passengers and destitutes is also an important task of the railways. We have succeeded in doing it. The closed circuit television system (CCTV) at the city railway station provided continuous surveillance at the railway platforms,” Mukherjee said.

Out of the 75 children, 37 children were rescued from the Visakhapatnam railway station during the period. According to the railway officials, most of the rescued children hailed from Visakha Agency, Jharkhand and some parts of neighbouring Odisha and Chhattisgarh. Some belonged to the local north coastal districts of Srikakulam and Vizianagaram.

?Railway Protection Force (RPF) inspector for Visakhapatnam railway station B Ramu said the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) formulated specific guidelines to protect children at 20 select major railway stations in the county.

“Though Visakhapatnam railway station is not in the list, we have followed the same guidelines in order to protect the destitute children on humanitarian grounds. We rescue children and hand them over to either their relatives or child welfare homes within 24 hours. If the child is able to provide information about his or her parents or contact numbers then we try to reach them. If the child fails to do so, we will follow the guidelines and rehabilitate him or her accordingly,” Ramu told TOI.

According to the guidelines, any child below 15 years of age wondering alone is rescued, he said. Ramu said that some children intentionally leave their children and come to the railway stations to board trains to go somewhere else in the country and some children are accidentally lost.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/visakhapatnam/Railways-rescue-destitute-children-in-Waltair-division/articleshow/49850190.cms

 

 

Chennai bucks national trend, only railway division to report growth in suburban passenger traffic

Chennai is the only railway division in the country where there has been an increase in passenger traffic in the first five months of the 2015-16 financial year when compared to the corresponding period last year.

The top six railway divisions, based on the volume of unreserved tickets sold (including suburban tickets), are Mumbai Central and Western, Sealdah, Chennai, Howrah and Delhi, all of which run suburban trains that contribute a bulk of this traffic. Railways reported a drop of 3.44% in this passenger segment. The Mumbai divisions, catering to more than 75 lakh passengers a day, saw a 10% drop in April-August from the previous year, Delhi saw a drop of 4.35%, while Sealdah and Howrah saw a drop of around 3.5%.

Bucking the national trend, Chennai division reported an increase of 1.51%, seen as a major achievement. The division aggressively promoted automatic ticket vending machines and stepped up ticket checks. The introduction of mobile app is bound to help in the coming months.

“Transporting passengers is the bread and butter of Indian Railways and the drop in number of tickets sold has worried everybody. The Railway Board has instructed all divisions to take steps to find out the reasons for the drop and check the trend,” said a senior official of Chennai division.

Officials said 50 additional ticket-checkers had been deployed at stations and Railway Protection Force chipped in with a ‘show your ticket’ drive at 13 stations (see box for list), with dedicated RPF personnel manning all entry and exit points.

Sales from Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs) in Chennai division increased by 25% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year and this is due to 15 additional facilitators deployed a few months ago, officials said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Chennai-bucks-national-trend-only-railway-division-to-report-growth-in-suburban-passenger-traffic/articleshow/49787333.cms

 

In 2015, RPF rescued 4,000 kidnapped, trafficked kids

Nearly 4,000 children, who had been kidnapped or trafficked through the railways across India, were rescued by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) in the first three quarters of this year. Trains have been the most common mode of transport for ferrying child victims.

On September 16, a Dadar-Kalyan local had halted at Ghatkopar station when someone pulled the alarm chain. An RPF team entered the train to check. Three girls, aged between 14 and 15 years, had pulled the chain. The girls appeared drowsy and were gesturing at a man seated across. It turned out the man, Kausar Nizamuddin, had kidnapped the class IX schoolgirls from Ghaziabad by forcing them to inhale sedatives. He was taking them to Kalyan. The RPF got in touch with the girls’ anxious families who were relieved to have the teens back.

“The director general of RPF had issued instructions for a crackdown on offenders involved in crimes against minors,” said an official. “Additional patrolling was deployed on platforms and other station areas. RPF personnel were instructed to keep tabs on kids accompanied by men or women that appeared suspicious.”

As part of a campaign between June and September, 99 kidnapped or trafficked kids, 503 runaway kids, 43 separated from their families and 43 street children were rescued.

On September 12, the Kota RPF in Rajasthan received a tip-off about a kidnapped 15-year-old girl being taken to Delhi by the Kochivali Express. When the train arrived at Kota station, waiting RPF teams got in and picked up the kidnapper, Prashant. The girl was rescued.

“We have also come across instances where children manage to slip away from kidnappers or traffickers and land up at a major railway station. Here, they are equally vulnerable and our teams are instructed to keep a hawk’s eye for kids roaming alone,” said the official.

On September 15, three girls were spotted roaming barefoot at Ghatkopar station, dressed in school uniforms. There was no adult with them. The girls were from Bhopal. They said a stranger had gagged them, bundled them into a van and brought them from MP to Mumbai. But the girls managed to give him the slip and somehow reached Ghatkopar station. They were around 13-14 years old. The RPF informed their families who had registered an abduction case in Bhopal.

Over 1,600 runaway kids were rescued in the first three-quarters of this year across the country; 82% of them are boys. “Children leave home usually to escape torture, due to peer pressure or attracted by the glamour of a big city. In most cases this year, we managed to reunite such kids with their families,” said an official.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/In-2015-RPF-rescued-4000-kidnapped-trafficked-kids/articleshow/49740923.cms

 

Braveheart RPF jawan felicitated

The braveheart jawan from the Railway Protection Force (RPF), who saved the life of a five-year-old caught in between platform and running train at Nashik Road Railway Station a few months ago, was felicitated on Tuesday with a bravery medal and cash prize of Rs 1 lakh by the railway ministry.

Constable Kailash Bodke, posted at Nashik Road railway station on June 13, saw Aditya Kadam falling into the gap between the approaching train and the platform and his father trying to save the child and immediately rushed to help. Through his presence of mind, the jawan saved the child.

“I saw the boy slipping into the gap as the train approached the station. I jumped to hold on to the child. Although the engine driver had applied emergency brakes, it would have taken some time for the train to stop. I asked the father not to pull the child as it would have only hurt him further,” Bodke said.While the child and the father suffered injures in the back, the constable was hit in the head and the neck. All three were treated and the boy discharged after five days of hospitalisation. “It was a serious situation and if the constable had not jumped in, the father would have attempted to pull the child in which the child would have faced grievous injuries – even fatality. The constable didn’t care for himself, but applied his mind knowing the situation.

This presence of mind saved the family members. Therefore his name was recommended,”BD Ipper, Police Inspector, RPF said.The constable was recognised for his bravery by the medal and the cash reward of Rs 1 lakh.The award was presented on Tuesday at the hands of Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu during a function held at New Delhi.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nashik/Braveheart-RPF-jawan-felicitated/articleshow/49683075.cms

 

Mahila Vahinis to ensure security on running trains

Mahila Vahinis (women squad) will make travel safe for women on running trains, according to Vijayawada Additional Divisional Railway Manager K. Venugopala Rao.

Noting that women passengers were increasingly targeted by miscreants on running trains, he said here on Friday that 132 women personnel of Railway Protection Force would take charge of important trains in the South Central Railway from January to ensure a safe travel for women.

Mahila Vahini squad members will provide escort to women passengers, particularly during night, when they are susceptible to robberies, he said, adding as many as 12 squads would be in action in the zone.

He suggested that those encountering security issues dial Railway Security Helpline 182. Those having smart phones can access the mobile-based security App of the railways to seek assistance quickly.

A pilot project of providing unreserved railway ticket on mobile phones now implemented between Chennai and Tambaram, will be extended to trains in the division soon, he said, adding that the new service would allow the passengers to carry the ticket on their smart phones and thus avoid standing in serpentine queues.

Passengers can book tickets after downloading the mobile app (UTS on mobile), from Google playstore and carry the e-ticket just on their smart phones.

Four reverse osmosis plants each would be set up shortly in Ongole and Chirala railway stations to make available safe water for just Rs. 3 per litre, he added.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/mahila-vahinis-to-ensure-security-on-running-trains/article7852997.ece

 

No Fire Crackers in Luggage During Train Journey: RPF

Ahead of Deepavali, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) has started awareness campaigns to dissuade rail passengers from carrying fire-crackers in their suitcases while undertaking a train journey. “Fire-crackers are explosive substances.

During the train journey, if there is some fire or friction or say a derailment, it could lead to a major disaster if the crackers burst,” said an RPF official at Chennai Central. The fire on an EMU train on the MRTS stretch this week is being recalled by the security personnel as an example while conducting the awareness campaigns.

Last year, the RPF at Chennai Central penalised around 30 people for carrying fireworks at the station. Initially, the people are warned and asked to deposit the firecrackers before boarding the train, but in case of those who carry a huge volume, a fine of up to `1,000 is imposed, RPF officials stated.

http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/No-Fire-Crackers-in-Luggage-During-Train-Journey-RPF/2015/10/26/article3096954.ece

 

Considering taking services of private security agencies: Railway minister

Union Minister Suresh Prabhu on Friday said that the government is considering deploying private security agencies on the Indian railways network to enhance the safety and security of passengers and assets.

The minister revealed this while addressing a conference of the International Institute of Security and Safety Management (IISSM) here.

Prabhu said that private security agencies can work with the Railway Protection Force (RPF).

The RPF is the designated security force tasked to protect railway passengers, stations and railway property. It functions under the railway ministry.

“It is a fact that the RPF has huge manpower shortage. To carry out its tasks more effectively, the assistance of private security industry is a very good option,” the minister said.

“They can handle the non-policing tasks, like management of security at railway stations, baggage scanning and patrolling of railway tracks.”

Prabhu said that around 10,000 RPF jawans are deployed in non-core areas like securing offices, colonies, warehouses and factories.

The minister elaborated that re-deploying the RPF personnel from non-core areas to core functions like passenger and platform security can yield around Rs.400 crore per annum.

Prabhu said the RPF’s task to protect the railways assets and passengers is very challenging and demanding, as the railroad network spreads over 65,015 kms.

“Securing the passenger and freight rail systems are fraught with challenges,” Prabhu said.

“Some of these challenges are common to passenger and freight rail systems, such as the funding of security improvements, the inter connectivity of the rail system and the number of stakeholders involved in rail security.”

According to the minister, railways like all modes of transportation, are vulnerable to terror attacks, fire incidents and other crimes.

 http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/considering-taking-services-of-private-security-agencies-railway-minister-115100200844_1.html

 

Now a ‘Security App’ for South Western Railway passengers

mobile application for use by the railway passengers of South Western Railway to lodge their complaints on security issues in trains and railway stations was launched here on Friday.

Director-General of Railway Protection Force, New Delhi, Rajiva Rajan Verma launched the ‘SWR’s Security App’ developed by Divisional Security Commissioner of Railway Protection Force, Hubballi Division, P. Raajmohan during his visit to review the passenger security arrangements over SWR. Appreciating the steps taken by RPF of SWR, Rajiva Rajan Verma stressed the need for giving more attention towards the security and safety of female passengers, senior citizens, children.

Briefing about the features of the mobile application Mr, Raajmohan explained the app helped the passengers in reporting a crime, lodging a complaint, get emergence assistance. It would also help them in giving passenger feedback, access helpline and other useful information, he said.

Chief Security Commissioner of RPF, SWR, S.C. Sahu said that as soon as a complaint was registered on the Security App, immediate action would be taken.

Earlier Mr Verma reviewed the passenger security arrangements and initiatives taken by the South Western Railway.

It can be used to report a crime, lodge a complaint, and get emergence assistance

The Hindu