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January 3, 2018

Indian Railways extends SMS delay alerts to 1,400 trains, which will inform passengers in advance about trains running behind schedule and help plan their journey

Starting January 3, Indian Railways will extend its SMS alerts for departure delays of over an hour to cover about 1,400 trains, including premium, superfast and express trains. So far, such alerts were sent only to passengers of premium trains like Rajdhani and Shatabdi, and were restricted to people boarding at the departure station. Now, travellers boarding at halt stations all along the route will also receive alerts.

“The idea was to inform passengers in advance about trains running behind schedule so they don’t have to wait for long hours at railway stations. It will also help passengers to plan their arrival,” said a senior Railways officer.

Launched in November 2017, the Railways sent out over 33 lakh SMSs to passengers between November 3 and December 7 last year.mation Systems, is free of cost. To avail the service, passengers have to mention their mobile numbers while booking tickets.

The service, developed by the Centre for Railway Information

To improve accuracy in tracking of trains, the Railways has tied up with ISRO for Real-time Train Information System. This will track trains on a real-time basis as well as disseminate running information to rail users.

“A tracking plate will be fixed on all 10,800 locomotives to track trains.
The fixing of the chip is expected to be complete by December 2018. Trials on the Delhi-Mumbai section have already been held,” the railway officer said.

Right on track

  • To accommodate more passengers, railways plans to run standardised trains with 22 coaches
  • Depending on the demand, railways at present runs trains having 12,16,18,22 and 26 coaches
  • Plan is to initially have 300 trains of similar make on busiest routes
  • This will help railways to substitute one train with another in case of delays
  • It will need standardisation of infrastructure

    Source: http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2018/jan/03/indian-railways-extends-sms-delay-alerts-to-1400-trains-from-today-1743019.html

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