Now, if any suspected person reaches any railway station, the police station will get his/her information. From June, the Railway Board has approved the installation of facial recognition cameras at Indian Railways stations. This work is expected to be completed by 2022, according to a Dainik Bhaskar report. All railway stations across the country will have facial recognition cameras. Moreover, A1, A, B and C category railway stations will be installed with 4K UHD (Ultra High Definition) cameras. The larger railway stations will have eight cameras, while the smaller stations will have four cameras. The cameras will have face recognition software, which will be installed at such places where everyone can be monitored while coming and going.
According to the report, the facial recognition system is already in use at railway stations and airports in China. In the first phase, the cameras will be installed at Delhi, Anand Vihar, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Jaipur, Bhopal, Patna, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Ranchi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Raipur railway stations, the report said.
Photographs of the suspects or criminals can be uploaded from any GRP, RPF or Control Room on the software. As soon as the software is linked, all 4k UHD cameras will get the pictures. When someone who matches that photograph will pass in front of the camera, the camera will automatically inform the control room with the help of software. Apart from this, the software will also help in finding those children who run away from their homes, because most of them go to other cities by train. Indian Railways is all set to purchase the facial recognition software for this.
Last month, the Railway Ministry issued a press release stating that the national transporter is in the process of installing IP based Video Surveillance System at railway stations, that is, reservation counters, waiting halls, parking areas, platforms, foot overbridges, main entrance/exit, booking offices, etc.
Under Nirbhaya funds, works for provision of Video Surveillance System covering as many as 983 railway stations have been approved by the Railway Board. According to the ministry, RailTel has been entrusted with the work of installing IP based Video Surveillance System with video analytics and facial recognition system. RailTel is a Miniratna PSU under the Railway Ministry.