The proposal was discussed at a meeting involving the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) and senior railway officials. One option under consideration is to install GPS devices on local train rakes to track their exact locations.
Mumbai’s Central and Western Railway networks operate 3,254 local train services daily using 288 train rakes. However, the RailOne app currently does not provide real-time running information for Mumbai local trains, despite offering access to several other railway services.
Officials discussed how existing data from Central and Western Railway could be used to introduce the feature.
Several other issues related to railway services were also discussed at the meeting. These included delays in ticket refunds, the inability to track refund status, adding Marathi and Gujarati language options to the app, and cases where tickets are booked from restricted railway premises.
Other concerns included frequent outages of the e-auction and MERS portals, berth allocation for women passengers under the Reservation Against Cancellation (RAC) system, options to close R-Wallet accounts, and linking railway employees’ passes with their HRMS IDs.
A key question is whether Railways should develop its own tracking system or use technology already available on another platform.
The Yatri app currently offers a live status feature for local trains. Officials are examining whether the technology used by Yatri can also be integrated into RailOne. However, concerns have been raised about the reliability of the information available through the existing system.
Railway officials said providing scheduled train timings is relatively straightforward, but keeping information accurate during delays, sudden cancellations and emergencies is more challenging. Since passengers depend on this information to plan their journeys, officials stressed the need for Railways to maintain control over the system and ensure its reliability.
If introduced, live train tracking could help commuters plan their journeys more effectively. Passengers would be able to check a train’s location and estimate its arrival instead of waiting on the platform without knowing how long the delay might last.
Railways will study the existing technology and the possibility of installing dedicated GPS devices before deciding on the next steps. No final decision has been taken on setting up a separate GPS tracking system for Mumbai local trains.
read more at mumbaipune.co.in
