The Indian Railways installs a real-time train tracking system in collaboration with the space agency ISRO.
Train Control will be able to more carefully monitor the whereabouts and speed of RTIS-enabled locomotives and trains, thanks to the new system.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Railways, “They get automatically plotted on the control chart of those trains in the Control Office Application (COA) system. RTIS gives mid-section updates with a periodicity of 30 seconds. The Train Control can now track the location and speed of RTIS-enabled locomotives /train more closely, without any manual intervention.”
Phase I saw the installation of these devices in 2700 locomotives; phase II will see 6000 more locomotives in 50 loco sheds covered.
“RTIS devices have been installed for 2700 locomotives in 21 electric loco sheds. As part of the Phase-II rollout, 6000 more locomotives across 50 loco sheds shall be covered by utilizing ISRO’s Satcom hub. Currently, GPS feed from around 6500 Locomotives (RTIS and REMMLOT) is being directly fed into the Control Office Application (COA). This has enabled automatic charting of trains and real-time information flow to passengers through COA and NTES integration,” according to the ministry statement.
The Ministry announced on Thursday that train stations are increasingly accepting digital payments for the purchase of meals from catering units. More than 8,878 of these units are already equipped with it.
Additionally, portable PoS devices are available in catering units to print printed bills and invoices that include all transactional information and answer complaints of overcharging. Currently, 596 trains have 3081 POS machines available to them. The ministry reported that POS equipment has been installed in 4316 static units.
Railways' e-catering services are managed by IRCTC. When purchasing an electronic ticket or while travelling by rail, passengers can pre-order meals of their choosing by using the app, calling the call centre, visiting the website, or dialling 1323.
Currently, 310 railway stations offer e-catering services through 1755 service providers and 14 food aggregators, providing an average of 41,844 meals each day.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Indian Railways, Ministry of Railways, COA, IRCTC, Isro")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}