Railways unveils Rail Tech Portal to boost innovation, digitises claims tribunal

New Delhi: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday unveiled the Rail Tech Portal and e-RCT as part of the reforms introduced by the national transporter to modernise its systems.

Under the Rail Tech Policy, the single-window Rail Tech Portal is expected to connect start-ups, innovators, industry, and institutions, where they can suggest solutions in operational safety, passenger amenities, and all other aspects of train operations in the country, Vaishnaw told reporters here.

Some of the innovation challenges suggested by him include AI-based elephant intrusion detection system, AI-based fire detection system in coaches, drone-based broken rail detection system and rail stress monitoring system.

On the selection process, he said that once a proposal is received, the concerned department will check whether the suggested solution is feasible and following which it will be recommended to the Board for further processing." The railways divisions will be given the responsibility to implement the pilot project of the proposal," he added.

On e-RCT (Railway Claims Tribunal), the Minister said the government has carried out a complete overhaul of the tribunal and made total digitisation of the system. This will enable 24×7 e-filing from anywhere, including through email.

"The digitisation will benefit litigants to file their cases from anywhere electronically and easily with 24×7 availability, " the Minister said.

He said digitisation will have several benefits including easy online filing of railway claims from anywhere, automatic alerts/notifications to all users, real-time case monitoring leading to faster resolution, automated document handling, real-time insights to benches, and use of AI for processing cases.