CR finally begins announcing exact time of train arrival

Here’s some good news for commuters on the Central Railway. Suburban travellers will now know the exact arrival time of the next train as well as of two trains after that.

Here’s some good news for commuters on the Central Railway. Suburban travellers will now know the exact arrival time of the next train as well as of two trains after that. The CR started these announcements between CST and Kalyan station from Wednesday through its train management system called Expected in Minutes.

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CR had initially installed these countdown indicators at a few stations between CST and Ghatkopar on trial. It has now extended this to all stations between CST and Kalyan. The Western Railway already has such a system in place.

Commuters will be able to see these timings on television sets put up at platforms. “In addition to the arriving train, commuters will also know about the next two expected trains, to help them plan their journey better. Our efforts are to inform commuters about three trains at a time – two expected trains and one arriving train – so that commuters have a schedule for the next 10 minutes,” said Subodh Jain, CR general manager.

CR is also trying to minimise diversions of trains so that trains of a particular destination arrive only at one platform. “We have seen that at Kurla, Kalyan and Wadala stations people wait at foot over-bridges for the arrival of a train and then rush to the platform it is expected to halt. We are trying to avoid such diversions and bring trains of a particular destination at specific platforms to lessen confusion among commuters,” Jain said.

The Expected in Minutes system is also expected to increase accuracy of announcements, as now announcements will be semi-automatic. “The train management system helps manage and operate services more accurately. By adding the passenger information system to it, we have increased the accuracy of information given to passengers. With this, complaints of inaccurate or wrong announcements are expected to reduce,” said the CR official requesting anonymity.