Fog fall-out: 3 Delhi railway stations to go hi-tech

In the coming few months, the Capital’s three main railway stations will be ready to tackle any crisis, like inordinate delays, rampant cancellations etc due to dense fog, with some high-tech gadgets, reports Avishek G Dastidar.

In the coming few months, the Capital’s three main railway stations will be ready to tackle any crisis, like inordinate delays, rampant cancellations etc due to dense fog, with some high-tech gadgets.

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Officials with handheld computers wirelessly tapping info from the Net; computerised enquiry counters with live updates on all trains and large LCD screens at every corner displaying live info without any scope for error will be the norm.

Northern Railway has prepared a massive upgrade plan for the way it processes and provides real-time train information, especially during a crisis.

For the first time in India, officials at station gates and ‘May I Help You’ counters will have handheld computers accessing the main server for live feed of train info. Information will get constant updates so that the margin of error is non-existent. The officials will roam the station and answer any and all questions of passengers.

During this winter, when long hours of dense fog across North India caused tremendous delays, cancellations and rescheduling, Northern Railway officials noted that providing correct information to passengers about train movements was the biggest challenge. “Without updated information, passengers turn up up at the station and wait. The time of arrival or departure keeps changing. In such cases, it is important to provide live information so that less people are affected,” said a senior railway official.

Now the plan is to install 30 giant LCD screens—15 at New Delhi, 10 at Old Delhi and five at Nizamuddin—so that people can access live info constantly.

“The first phase of the work will be complete by February 20. The work will be done by June,” said Ashwani Lohani, Divisional Railways Manager, Delhi.

The enquiry counters, traditionally infamous for giving out delayed information with incredible slowness, will now be equipped with centrally-monitored terminals.

Northern Railway has already purchased some of the requierd hardware.