Indian Railways has partnered with IIT-Kanpur to introduce a real-time train tracking system for mobile users, reports Business Standard. The technology enables a mobile user to access information about the exact location of a train. To
avail the service, one has to send an SMS to
09415139139 or 09664139139
with the train number in the message box for knowing the exact location
of a train on real-time basis, according to the report. Indian
Railways’ technology arm CRIS, is expected to sign an MoU with
IIT-Kanpur for executing the project.
We found it strange that the Indian Railways has introduced the
service with a longhand number instead of a shorthand number as it is
easier for passengers to remember short codes. The service is currently
available on 36 premier trains including Mumbai Rajdhani, Howrah
Rajdhani, Dibrugarh Rajdhani, Sealdah Duronto and Shatabdi trains for
Bhopal, Kanpur and Amritsar. Indian Railways expects to extend this
facility to all major trains in the next 18 months. The report also
states that the trial run for the pilot project has been concluded and
that the center, which will receive data from across the country, will
be located at Delhi.
Indian Railways had partnered with Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to
develop a GPS-based device for trains, which will provide real-time
train tracking with an accuracy of 10 metres and latency of 2 mins. It
looks like the end-user implementation will be carried out with
IIT-Kanpur’s assistance. In an RTI filed by MediaNama, CRIS
informed that the Real-time Train Information System project (RTIS) has
been sanctioned across the Indian Railways at a cost of Rs 123.69
Crore. As previously reported, the GPS devices in each train would vary
from Rs. 70,000 to Rs. 1,00,000. Indian Railways also plans to integrate
the GPS app into Google Maps, allowing passengers to view their current
location on Google Maps, in real time.
Technology
For the project, the RTIS system will utilize GPS technology for
automatic capture of train running information (Position/Speed/
Direction). For this, ISRO’s S-Band Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) on
INSAT-3C and GPRS shall be utilized. MSS is a one way satellite based
messaging service available through INSAT, which provides a reporting
channel via a satellite to a group of people who need to send short text
messages or short data to a central station. The service offers one-way
message reporting and is restricted to Indian territory. All the
information will be collected to a data-center/server in Delhi.
Track Trains elsewhere
Apart from tracking train location on mobile via SMS, Indian Railways also launched a train tracking system on the web — Trainenquiry.com in partnership with RailYatri.in. Apart from that, in March 2010, Indian Railways had announced a similar project called Satellite Imaging for Rail Navigation (SIMRAN),
which aimed at providing real-time train tracking through GPS and
mobile (GSM) technologies. This project was built in collaboration by
Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO), Lucknow and IIT
Kanpur. The project was made available to public on trial basis in
October 2011 on select trains. Users could track train location either
via their web portal or SMS.
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