RailTel installs internet-based video surveillance systems at 269 stations: Railways

RailTel has said that at 269 railway stations in 10 zones internet-based video surveillance systems have been installed. It can store footage for 30 days. The public sector unit, RailTel has also set up centralised security control rooms for the internet protocol-based system with funds allocated under the Nirbhaya Fund.

This development comes after a Railway Board order asked the public sector unit to provide these surveillance systems at all A1, A, B, C, D and E category railway stations, coaches of premium trains and suburban electric multiple unit trains.

"These centralised control rooms will display video feeds from VSS (video surveillance systems) installed by RailTel at stations of respective zones," the railways said in a statement.

"This project is being executed by utilising the Nirbhaya Fund aimed at providing better safety for women. Currently, 269 stations have been provided with IP-based VSS by RailTel. Work at 31 more stations is in progress and will be completed soon. RailTel has also floated a tender for this work at 456 stations," it said.

As per the statement, the CCTV cameras under the system use optical fiber cables and the video feed is not only displayed at local Railway Protection Force (RPF) posts but also at centralised CCTV control rooms at the divisional and zonal levels.

video feeds of the CCTV cameras of stations are monitored at three levels in order to ensure enhanced safety and security at railway premises.

A network management system (NMS) has also been provided for monitoring of cameras, servers, UPS and switches, and these can be viewed from any web browser by authorised personnel, the statement said.

the South Central Railway, 17 stations have incorporated VSS Control Room and it was inaugurated recently.

The other zones which have this facility include East Central Railway, Southern Railway, South Western Railway, Western Railway, West Central Railway, Central Railway, North Eastern Railway, North Western Railway, North Central Railway and South-Central Railway.

"We will be completing the work at 756 stations by March 2022. We are installing four types of IP cameras (dome type, bullet types, pan-tilt-zoom type and Ultra HD-4k) to ensure maximum coverage inside Railway premises. This will give an extra edge to the RPF officials to improve security," said CMD RailTel, Puneet Chawla.

The recording of the video feeds from CCTV cameras will be stored for 30 days for playback, post-event analysis and for investigation purposes. Important videos can be stored for longer duration, officials said.