Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/mumbai-news/railways-installs-emergency-talkback-systems-in-327-women-s-coaches-on-cr-wr-101653932996524.html
Publisher: Hindustan Times
MUMBAI: In a bid to enhance safety for women travelling by local trains, the Railways has installed an emergency talkback system in 327 women’s compartments in suburban trains on Central and Western Railway.
The systems enable passengers to speak to the local train guard during an emergency. The system features a button that needs to be pressed to talk to the guard (the one who mans the cabin on the non-driving end of the train) via an inbuilt microphone.
There is another talkback system installed in the guard’s cabin that lets the guard reply and later alert the motorman in case of distress to passengers.
The talkback systems are installed in 51 local trains on both Central and Western Railway. On the Central Railway, the system has been installed in 240 compartments on 40 local trains and on the Western Railway the system has been installed in 87 compartments on 11 local trains.
There are 269 local trains on the Central and Western Railway; 156 local trains on the Central Railway and 113 local trains on the Western Railway.
Every local train has six women’s compartments including first-class compartments. The Railways plans to install the systems in all women’s compartments in their suburban fleet in phases over the next two years.
“We have introduced the talkback systems during cases of emergency. Passengers can directly alert the railway authorities through the guard of the local trains. We plan to install the systems in 116 local trains in one year and the remaining local trains next year,” said a senior Central Railway official.
The system was initially introduced on an experimental basis in five local trains and was later on announced in the union budget for 2019-2020.
Meanwhile, the Central Railway has also installed 183 CCTVs in women’s compartments and tenders for installing the CCTV cameras in 589 compartments have been processed.
Passenger associations have appreciated the move saying that women commuters travelling late at night will feel safe. “The system will be helpful for the passengers especially during the night as they will be able to directly talk to the guard of the local train in case of an emergency,” said Subhash Gupta, president, Rail Yatri Parishad.
