Title - Surveillance cameras to be installed at railway reservation offices

The move is aimed at arresting the menace of agents and middlemen at major railway stations

South Central Railway is installing surveillance cameras at Passenger Reservation System offices and booking offices at major railway stations in the State to eliminate the menace of agents and middlemen at railway reservation ticketing area.

Already, 25 surveillance cameras have been installed at Secunderabad, Vijayawada, Guntur, Nanded and Guntakal Stations this month. Each camera entails an expenditure of Rs.30,000 and authorities are planning to install similar cameras at Hyderabad, Kacheguda, Kakinada, Rajahmundry, Kurnool, Mahabubnagar, Aurangabad, Tirupati, Kadapa and Renigunta stations in the second phase very shortly.

These cameras are installed to observe the activity of touts, if any, in the Reservation Offices and also to observe the presence of middlemen, who may approach the passengers near reservation counters. The footage of these surveillance cameras is made available to higher officials on real time basis through Railnet with the help of an IP address assigned to each camera.

This apart, these surveillance cameras are now facilitating the divisional authorities, including Divisional Railway Manager and Senior Divisional Commercial Manager to monitor the working of reservation or booking counters to take appropriate decision for catering to the needs of visitors at the counters. Video recording facility is also available for recording the images and storing them for subsequent viewing.