Railways introduces drone based surveillance system to ensure passenger safety

To keep a watch on railways assets and ensure safety for passengers, Indian Railways has purchased Ninja unmanned aerial vehicles.

"Eye in the Sky: Improving Surveillance System, Railways has recently procured Ninja Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. With real-time tracking, video streaming & automatic fail-safe mode, the drones will enhance monitoring of the railway assets and ensure additional safety for passengers," Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said in a tweet.

The Mumbai Division of Central Railway has recently procured two Ninja UAVs and used for better security and surveillance in railway areas like station premises, railway track sections, yards and workshops.

The Railway Protection Force (RPF) has planned extensive use of drones for the purpose of railway security, the railways said.

The RPF purchased 9 drones at a cost of Rs 31.87 lakh so far at South Eastern Railway, Central Railway, Modern Coaching Factory, Rae Bareli and South Western Railway, the statement said. It also plans to buy another 17 drones in future at a cost of Rs 97.52 Lakh.

The RPF has so far trained 19 its personnel to operate and maintenance of drones out of which four have received licenses for flying drones. Six more RPF personnel are being trained, the ministry said.

The drone will help the railways to monitor its assents and its safety including yards, workshops and car sheds. Besides, it also help to launch surveillance on criminal and anti-social activities like gambling, throwing of garbage, hawking in railway premises, it added.

These drones are capable of real time tracking, video streaming and may be operated on Automatic Fail Safe Mode, the Ministry said.

"It may be deployed for data collection, analysis of such data collected may prove to be extremely useful in vulnerable sections for safe operations of trains. The drone may be pressed in service at disaster sites for helping in rescue, recovery and restoration and coordinating of efforts of various agencies," the ministry said.

"It is very useful while undertaking mapping of railway asset to assess the encroachments on railway property. During large scale crowd management efforts, it may give vital inputs like crowd magnitude, probable time of arrival and dispersal based on which crowd regulation efforts may be planned and executed," the statement said. "Drones were used to enforce lockdown and monitor the movement of migrants during the Covid-19 lockdown," it said.

A drone camera can cover large areas which requires 8-10 RPF personnel. Thus, it may lead to substantial improvement in utilisation of scarce manpower.

Drone beats have been designed based on railway asset, sensitivity of area, activity of criminals. Any suspicious activity if noticed is intimated to the nearest RPF post of division to apprehend the criminal live.

One such criminal was apprehended on a real time basis in Wadibunder Yard area while he was trying to commit theft inside railway coach stationed in the yard, the Railways said.