VISAKHAPATNAM: The railways introduced biometric token system (BTS) and surveillance with drone cameras at the Visakhapatnam railway station falling under Waltair division of East Coast Railway on Saturday. This system is to regulate the flow of passengers and boost security.
Visakhapatnam is the first railway station in the state to have such a facility, which is already operational at certain key railway stations in cities like Mumbai. .
This system can prevent the chaos at the station, particularly during the festival period like Sankranti where the passengers’ flow is high, said Chetan Kumar Shrivastava, divisional railway manager, while launching the biometric token machine and drone on the platform number 1 here.
The Railway Protection Force senior divisional security commissioner Jitendra Shrivastava said that the system to regulate crowds in the general compartments. This helps in preventing stampedes at platforms while boarding unreserved coaches as passengers will have to get their fingerprints scanned to get a token generated.
The system ensures allotment of seats on a first come first serve basis based on the availability of seats. Instead of spending hours in long queues to board general compartments passengers can get the token in advance and board the general compartment peacefully as per the allotted number in the token. It ensures to prevent the corrupt practices and cornering of seats by anti social
elements, he added.
Jitendra said the RPF staff at the entry point of general class coach verifies the token serial number and allows the passengers to board the coach in orderly manner.
As part of conducting surveillance against criminals, patrolling of yards, vital installations, railways tracks and accident sites, the drone procured by the RPF will help in saving man power and assist in controlling crime. 10 RPF personnel had already undergone Drone Pilot Training at Visakhapatnam to operate the same, Jitendra added.
