The existing security system in Mumbai's suburban railway system is set to undergo a major upgrade. The railway network carries 65-70 lakh passengers every day.
Western Railway (WR) will install 12,446 Video Surveillance System (VSS) CCTV cameras in 1,615 coaches in Mumbai. Central Railway (CR) will also install VSS for its trains. Women's coaches and railway stations are already covered by the CCTV network.
Apart from shuttle trains running on the 123-km long Churchgate-Dahanu suburban corridor, VSS will be included for all coaches of AC and non-AC local trains. It will also keep an eye on motorman cabs and train managers.
Central Railway will also install VSS in its local trains running on the CSMT-Karjat/Kasara/Panvel corridor. The details are being finalised by the departments concerned.
Western Railway sources said that tenders have been invited for supply, installation, testing and commissioning of VSS in coaches. Officials will open the tenders on August 18.
"There is a need to increase the number of CCTVs in local trains," said Rajeev Singhal, a member of the Divisional Railway Users Advisory Committee, a forum for interaction between railway officials and passengers.
"Currently, there are beggars, transgenders and other elements travelling without tickets in local trains. The authorities should also reprimand the railway police personnel at stations, who are more busy looking at their mobile phones than keeping an eye on the trains and stations," Singhal had raised these issues with Western Railway officials last week.
In an official statement, railway officials said that they have made significant changes in their security policy in the last few years after the Mumbai Suburban Railway blasts on July 11, 2006, and other threats that followed.
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