Title - Railway board meet discusses safety measures

ATNA: The railway minister, Mukul Roy, held a high-level meeting with the Railway Board officials recently to take stock of safety measures being implemented in the 17 zones of the railways. The meeting discussed threadbare every aspect of safety measures being carried out by the railways. The meeting, however, focused more on the Crew Management System (CMS) to further enhance safety measures.Under the new safety plan, the railways has already launched the CMS in a few zones of the railways to strengthen safety measures, especially during summer. A special control room, which has been set up at the Railway Board level, has been able to communicate directly with the crew members of any passenger and goods trains. Their availability and physical fitness is now being monitored with the help of the CMS. The new technology, developed by the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) at a cost of Rs 12 crore, is a software using biometric identification to locate crew members on duty, a Board official said.According to the Board official, the new system is maintaining a database of each engine crew member. Their skills and specialization are also known on the computerized system. The system really facilitates the railways to maintain booking of loco pilots and assess their performance as well, he said.According to sources, the railways has been running about 18,000 trains every day across the country carrying about 18 million passengers per day. It is a tough task for the railways to keep a tab on these crew members from safety point of view, sources said, adding the CMS device would now help the railways to maintain communication between the Board control room and crew members.

According to sources, the railways has been spending a huge amount on upgrading its information technology (IT) system across the country. The CMS is completely a safety-oriented technology to track the crew members in any emergency, sources said.

The CMS was first introduced in 2006 with the help of CRIS as a pilot project. However, it could not make much headway due to some technical snags. "Since the railways has been introducing more fast trains, this system becomes imperative from safety point of view," the official said.

According to ECR CPRO Neeraj Ambastha, this system has been introduced in the ECR and has helped the railways to further improve safety measures. The railways is keeping a tab on safety measures round-the- clock in summer, he said.

Incidentally, the CMS plan has also attracted attention of Transnet Freight Rail of South Africa. The CRIS is planning to develop more safety-related devices, including a biometric system, to ensure foolproof safety on tracks, sources said.