All 978 locomotives on Western Railway — 810 electric and 168 diesel — will be fitted with front-view dashcams and black boxes, along the lines of aircraft, to capture crucial data while the train is on the move. Such a move could hep pinpoint the cause of rail incidents.
All of these are passenger and freight locomotives. Every engine will have six CCTV cameras, one at either end (in each of the driving cabs) to get a view of the running line, two on the sides two inside the cab to monitor movements of the locopilot. These internal cameras will also be capable of voice recording, which will help in post-incident investigations,” a senior rail official said.
An electric locomotive at Bandra railway station. Pic/Satej Shinde
The audio recording facility will act as the train’s black box. It is important to note that all of this equipment will remain in offline mode so there is no chance of hacking and will be scrutinised only in case of incidents,” a senior rail official said.
The CCTV cameras installed on the front of the train will help ascertain the cause of accidents, including those related to trespassing on tracks. The equipment will help the railways analyse, narrow down and pinpoint the causes in case of any incident. The cost of fitting the equipment is estimated to be around Rs 8 lakh to Rs 10 lakh per engine. All these cameras will be equipped with Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification (STQC). The certification was mandated to ensure a trusted supply chain and robust cybersecurity for CCTV cameras as video surveillance is most sensitive to national security.
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No. of locos WR will upgrade
