New Delhi, January 7: Soon passengers travelling in Indian Railways will be treated like they are welcomed at Airports. Don’t be surprised, the Indian Railways is not increasing the facilities, but sealing the stations before the train departs, and passengers would have to arrive 15-20 minutes before the train leaves.

According to the latest plan, the Indian Railways would increase the security checks, and it could be multiple folds – comprising of CCTV cameras, access control, personal and baggage screening system and bomb detection and disposal system. Along with this, multiple checking of passengers and baggage from the point of entry in the station premises till boarding of the train is on the cards. Indian Railways Beautification Drive: Ratlam, Ujjain and Indore Railway Stations Have Been Transformed With Beautiful Wall Paintings, View Pics.

The pilot project – with high-end technology – has already started at Allahabad, in anticipation of the Kumbh Mela which begins this month. Also, this has been put in motion at Hoobly railway station in Karnataka with a blueprint for 202 more stations ready for implementation, informed Railway Protection Force Director General Arun Kumar.

Kumar said, as reported by PTI, “The plan is to seal the railway stations. It is primarily about identifying openings and to determine how many can be closed. There are areas which will be closed through permanent boundary walls, others will be manned by RPF personnel, and yet others will have collapsible gates.”

Stating that there would be random security checks at the entry point, Kumar said, “At each entry point there will be random security checks. However, unlike at airports, passengers need not come hours in advance, but just 15-20 minutes ahead of their departure times to ensure that they are not delayed because of the security process.”

However, he said that though the security will increase, the presence of security personnel will not. He said, “If we are inventing in technology, then manpower requirement will reduce.” The security plan under the Integrated Security System (ISS) was approved in 2016 to strengthen surveillance mechanism at 202 railway stations and would cost Rs 385.06 crore to the Indian Railways.

Adding more, he said that the project would include real-time face recognition software which will alert the RPF command centre of any known offenders. Every eighth or ninth passenger will undergo the process on his arrival at the station, the official added.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 07, 2019 09:52 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).