Women safety: ‘Talk back’ on 72 Western Railway trains

In view of the safety of women commuters, Western Railway (WR) will install 'talk back' facility inside First Class and Ladies compartment on 72 trains -- 70 per cent of its total fleet. Talk back facility enables women commuters to speak to motorman and guard in case of an emergency. The upgraded version even records the conversation in the system.

For the past few months, WR has been improvising on the existing talk back system fixed inside women's coach. "The new system will not just relay the message to motorman/guard but also record the conversation. This will help us as evidence in serious offences," said a senior WR official.

The recording will be there for a month with a 1Tb back-up. There will be changes in the back-up capacity depending on the usage in all the 72 rakes. Sources said that they are in process of calling tenders for 'talk back' system. The approximate cost is Rs 8-10 crore. Last week, General Manager of Western Railway, AK Gupta spoke to his subordinates about the nitty-gritty of the 'talk back' system. "Till now it was only in one rake. We have not come across any problem in its functioning and so have gone ahead with extending it," said a WR official.

Once the message is relayed to the motorman/guard, it will be routed to the control room. The first talk back system was installed in 2018. The WR has also installed CCTVs inside the ladies coaches.