New mobile phone app will put safety on train in your hands

The Rail Surakasha app will also help officers in the control room. When a passenger will call 182, the call will get recorded on the app and help during probe. SACHIN BHALODE, senior divisional security commissioner, CR

MUMBAI: If you happen to encounter any security-related issues while travelling on a local or outstation train, soon, help will just be a few clicks away. To make commuting safe on trains, the central railway (CR) will roll out a ‘Rail Suraksha’ mobile application by Septemberend.

The application will be integrated with the railway protection force (RPF) help- line 182 to make it passengerfriendly. The Rail Suraksha application was first introduced in Pune on a pilot-basis and was being tested since 2016. It will be available on Android first and then on IOS. After introducing the application on CR, it will be made available across the Indian Railways.

The application made by RPF will enable train passengers to register safety-related complaints while they are travelling.

Once a commuter files a complaint on the application, the 182 control room at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) will track the phone and inform the nearest RPF or government railway police (GRP) station. Officials will attend to the specific compartment.

“The Rail Surakasha application will not just help commuters, it will also help officers in the control room to determine status of complaints.,” said Sachin Bhalode, senior divisional security commissioner, CR.

The requirement of a separate mobile application for passenger security was discussed in a railway safety review meeting in January in New Delhi, which was chaired by Union railway minister Piyush Goyal.

Goyal had sought ideas from RPF officials. According to officials, CR has already started assembling necessary devices in its 182 control room to facilitate the application roll-out.

In June, Goyal launched two mobile applications, Rail Madad and Menu on Rails.