To enhance security across the suburban section of Mumbai division, Central Railway has started installation of CCTV cameras equipped with face recognition systems. The first CCTV camera of this series was installed at Byculla railway station recently, funded by the Nirbhaya fund.
According to CR, currently, only six stations in the Mumbai division are equipped with integrated security systems, including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Dadar, Kurla, Thane, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, and Kalyan, featuring high-tech CCTV cameras with face recognition capabilities. However, the remaining suburban stations rely on older CCTV technology, which will be replaced under this initiative.
“A total of 2,509 high-tech CCTV cameras will be installed at 76 stations of the Mumbai division, including suburban stations, in a phased manner, with 297 cameras equipped with face recognition systems. The installation has already commenced at prominent stations like Masjid, Byculla, Chinchpokali, and Curry Road, with the first phase expected to be completed within two weeks,” said an official.
As per the railway officials, each station will receive between four to ten CCTV cameras with face recognition capabilities based on passenger footfalls. Stations like Mulund and Byculla will have 10 such cameras each. New cameras are said to have wider coverage, better clarity compared to the existing ones, and the ability to rotate 180 degrees for broader coverage. Every point of the station will be suitably covered.
The face recognition cameras are expected to serve multiple purposes, acting as a deterrent to potential wrongdoers, enhancing monitoring and enforcing compliance with railway regulations, and ensuring a safer travel experience for passengers. Data collected by these cameras will be transmitted via an IP network to surveillance stations and relayed to a unified control command centre, ensuring constant digital surveillance of all stations being covered under this project.
One remarkable aspect of this technology is its ability to recognize individuals stored in a database, alerting authorities to the presence of known criminals. A multi-layered monitoring network will oversee these cameras, with data securely stored for 720 hours ie 30 days, facilitating post-event analysis, playback, and investigations. The deployment of CCTV cameras will extend beyond platforms, covering waiting halls, reservation counters, parking areas, main entrances/exits, platforms, foot over bridges, and booking offices, all connected via optical fibre cable.
This project is part of a larger plan to install 6,122 CCTV cameras across 364 stations of Central Railway, supported in part by the Nirbhaya fund. The introduction of 4K-enabled cameras is expected to revolutionise railway security. The project is estimated to cost around Rs 82 crore, with completion scheduled in the next 12 to 18 months on entire network of Central Railways
