74,000 rail coaches to be equipped with CCTV cameras: Indian Railways

Indian Railways will install CCTV cameras in all 74,000 coaches and 15,000 locomotives, with a focus on improving passenger safety and reducing incidents of crime

The Ministry of Railways, which had been running pilot projects of CCTV cameras in coaches, has now decided to install cameras in common movement areas of all coaches and locomotives of Indian Railways.

 

“This move will significantly improve passenger safety. Miscreants and organised gangs take advantage of gullible passengers. With cameras, such incidents will significantly reduce. To preserve the privacy of passengers, CCTV cameras will be installed in the common movement areas near the doors,” the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

 

The decision was taken in a meeting on Saturday attended by Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw and Minister of State Ravneet Bittu.

 

“Railway officials informed that successful trials have been done in the loco engines and coaches of the Northern Railway. The Union Minister for Railways gave the go-ahead to install CCTV cameras in all 74,000 coaches and 15,000 locos,” said the ministry's statement. 

 

According to Indian Railways, each railway coach will be covered with four dome-type CCTV cameras—two in each entrance way—and each locomotive will have six CCTV cameras.

 

“This will include one camera each at the front, rear, and on both sides of the locomotive. Each cab (front and rear) of a loco will be fitted with one dome CCTV camera and two desk-mounted microphones,” it said.

 

All railway cameras in coaches will be certified by Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification (STQC), a statutory body under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology—a request the ministry had made to Niti Aayog in 2023.

 

Vaishnaw asked the railway officials to ensure that high-quality footage should be available even for trains running at speeds of 100+ kilometres per hour and under low-lighting conditions.

 

“The Union Minister for Railways encouraged the officials to explore the use of AI on the data captured by CCTV cameras, in collaboration with the IndiaAI mission,” the railways said.