Indian Railways To Introduce ISRO Enabled GPS-Equipped Locomotives For Tracking To Improve Punctuality

Indian Railways would be equipping all locomotives with Global Positioning System (GPS) devices and install CCTVs at major junctions as well as express trains to improve passenger security by the end of the Financial Year 2020 (FY 20), Railway Board Chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav said, reports Rail Analysis India.

The GPS systems would be installed to locate the real-time position of the trains as part of the Real-time Train Information System (RTIS) project. To improve punctuality of trains, RTIS would be implemented in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Yadav adds.

“Position and speed of the train will be relayed through ISRO satellites to the Control Office Application (COA) system of Railways for automatic plotting of control charts,” Yadav said while adding that all major railway stations would provide WiFi by September.

Speaking about the East Coast Railway (ECoR), he said that they aim to transport 200 Million Tonnes (MT) of freight in this fiscal. “More funds will be allocated for completion of pending projects in Odisha hoping that land acquisition problems that have held them up will be sorted this financial year,” he said