Title - Train tickets to carry helpline numbers of railway police

CHENNAI:The helpline numbers of Government Railway Police in Tamil Nadu and Kerala will now be printed on the back of the tickets booked through the Passenger Reservation System for the benefit of travellers in distress.This was decided at a high-level coordination meeting on security convened by Southern Railway and attended by Government Railway Police chiefs of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Puducherry.“Initially, these numbers will be printed on the back of tickets booked through the PRS. Soon, we will extend it to open tickets too,” V. K. Dhaka, Chief Security Commissioner, Southern Railway said.Officials attending the meeting emphasised the need for constant exchange of crime intelligence between the GRP, Railway Protection Force and local police for effective prevention of crime and extremist activities.They also reviewed the security of passengers, especially women passengers, and exchanged inputs on improving overall safety of travellers.

Though the crime rate in 2012 on the Southern Railway network has come down by 12 per cent from the 2011 levels, the coordinated vigil will be sustained, Mr. Dhaka said.

The meeting also took stock of the state-of-the-art Integrated Security System project that envisages putting in place an anti-terror apparatus that includes high-tech surveillance cameras, under vehicle scanners, doorframe metal detectors and X-ray baggage screening conveyors and explosives detection and disposal mechanisms at important stations.

In Chennai, the system has already been set up at Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore and Basin Bridge apart from four more suburban stations. In all, the ISS is being set up at 14 stations in southern railway including Madurai, Tiruchi, Coimbatore, Thiruvananthapuram Central, Kozhikode, Ernakulam and Mangalore.

Rakesh Misra, Southern Railway General Manager, said the ISS which was already installed at six stations would be commissioned in the remaining eight stations expeditiously. More stations will also have CCTV coverage, he said.