Railways directs zones to take action on officials for wrong train data

The Railway Board has asked all 17 zones to take action against officials who cause inconvenience to passengers by not feeding any data or by providing incorrect data in the passenger information system on the status of trains.

The board has also directed the zones to integrate various passenger information display boards installed at stations with the National Train Enquiry System (NTES) to bring consistency and ensure correct and reliable display of train information.

The NTES website provides real-time train running status and coach composition among other information. Besides this, train indicator boards installed on platforms display train numbers, their names and running status. Passengers can also locate the coach position of the arriving trains through the coach guidance system on the platforms.

The Railway Board, in its letter to the zones dated September 27, stated that passenger information systems like coach guidance systems and train indicators boards at rail stations act as an important interface between passengers and the Railways.

"The reliability of train information being conveyed by such systems to passengers is very important and any gap/error in the information displayed creates inconvenience for the passengers. Hence it is very important that the information for every stopping train displayed on such systems is correct and reliable," it said.

"ln view of above. CRB (Chairman, Railway Board) & CEO Railway Board has desired that due weightage be given by Railways to ensure correct and reliable display of Train information on such systems. To achieve this, all Passenger Information systems should be integrated with the National Train Enquiry System on topmost priority for automatic display of Train information at stations," the letter read.

The board has also advised all zones to replace the old passenger information systems with new ones which comply with the latest RDSO specifications on top priority.

"Passenger information systems complying with RDSO specifications Revision 4 and above should always be integrated with NTES using API based interface, which would then display correct coaching information even after Engine reversal and thus eliminating the need for any manual intervention," the letter said.

To find out the reliability of the existing passenger information system, the North Central Railway, under the direction of the chairman and CEO of the Railway Board, conducted a study and found various shortcomings in the system.

"As per the data received from this study and analysis by CRIS (Centre for Railway Information Systems), it has been observed that for some trains, either the train data was not fed by the user/train originating station or incorrect coach configuration was entered. Such mistakes should be avoided and appropriate action needs to be taken against the delinquent officials," the letter said.

"Further it is desirable that at platforms where more than six reserved trains stop in a day, Coach Guidance Systems are installed for passenger convenience," it added.