Video-recording of railway stations soon

All areas critical to safety in train operation, including station master rooms and panel rooms, would be video-recorded hereafter. The Railway Board (RB), on October 28, 2019, issued an order to this effect to general managers of all railway zones. Besides, believing that it would prevent untoward incidents, the board has attributed its decision to help establish the real cause of eventuality, if any.

“Video-recording of critical areas at railway stations, in particular locations critical to safety in operations like panel and relay rooms, will be of immense help in preventing occurrence of untoward incidents and in case of any eventuality, establishing the real cause,” said the order issued by Dimpy Garg, executive director (Safety/mechanical), Railway Board.

The board, which was providing video-recording system on loco cabs, has offered to provide video recording system with adequate storage to station master rooms/panel rooms and relay rooms, which are critical to safety in train operations. A railway officer with knowledge of the order said, “If such a recording facility were available then, we would have established the identity of the stranger who scooted off with the EMU a decade ago.”

Opining that challenges would be aplenty when the new video-recording idea goes into implementation phase, the officer said that preserving such recorded video require elaborate infrastructure as the period for which such data must be stored was crucial.