Chennai: Travelling in AC coaches of express trains may be safer henceforth. Southern railway (SR) has now put air-conditioned coaches under surveillance. In a first, SR has installed CCTV cameras in an AC two-tier coach of Karaikal-bound Kamban Express starting from Egmore here.
To begin with, SR has installed CCTV camera in only one AC tier-II coach. Last month, it installed CCTV camera in a SLR coach (ladies coach-cum-guard van) in one of its express trains. The footages grabbed by the CCTV cameras will be stored in an onboard hardware, replicating black boxes in airplanes. The data will be stored for a month. “The system will format every 30 days, destroying the footages, for storing new data,” a senior SR officer told DC.
However, ICF that developed the CCTV-fitted coaches is not satisfied with the quality of the camera. “ICF is satisfied with the facility in the SLR coach, but they find the CCTV camera in the AC coach not adequate,” the officer said, adding that there were differences between ICF and the contractor who did the work in either replacing or retaining the existing camera in the AC coach.
Unlike the conventional CCTV cameras, the one in the AC coach has infrared vision that supports videography even in the dark, thereby allowing surveillance during overnight journeys when most of the thefts, particularly of laptops and baggage take place. SR is believed to have spent '3.5-4 lakh per coach to instal the CCTV surveillance.
Another highly placed SR officer who admitted to not considering the provision of surveillance facility in second-class sleeper coaches, confirmed that all AC coaches to be rolled out of factories would have CCTV surveillance facility.
Retrofitting existing AC coaches during periodic overhauling may also be under consideration. Even public complaints about invasion of privacy does not seem to be a cause for concern for officials dismissed it saying; “Lavatory is a private place, not the berth.”
Security teams do not sit and watch the footage on a real time or daily basis; the data stored in the hardware will be pulled out for scrutiny only when an incident is reported, officers reasoned.
