Soon, CR trains to get TV sets

Mumbai’s crowded local trains will now have television sets. The Central Railway (CR) has mega plans to get them installed in all 80 electric trains that ferry 40 lakh passengers.
The TVs are to run programmes like quiz shows, popular comic as well as railway-related and public service messages.

“We already had them in 10 trains and now want to try and install them in all 80. We have called for proposals. Let’s see what the response is like,” senior divisional commercial manager (CR) Atul Rane said. “The basic idea is to run infotainment and quiz programmes that would be uploaded through the Internet on running trains.”

CR hopes to provide good infotainment to its commuters and earn significant revenue through this project.

Speaking on the safety of the TV sets in trains, railway officials said they will be encased in metal boxes and welded to the interiors to make them theft-proof.

The idea of introducing TVs in local trains was first materialised by the Western Railway in March 2007 after passengers of Shatabdi Express enjoyed a customised entertainment system on board.

There are 29 12-car trains at Sanpada in Navi Mumbai, 13 at the Kurla car shed and 38 at the  Kalwa car shed and sources said the cost of the project is around Rs3 crore.

Rajendra Aklekar l @rajtoday