Western Railways to install 2,729 cameras with face recognition system across 30 stations

The Western Railways has decided to install 2,729 cameras that will have 4K technology across all 30 stations of the Mumbai suburban network from Virar to Churchgate. 

Addressing a news agency, Sumit Thakur, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of Western Railways said that out of 2,729 cameras, 450 have face recognition technology that will be primarily be installed at entry and exit points of the stations. 

He said, "Under the integrated surveillance system, 2,729 high-resolution cameras worth Rs 60 crores are being installed in 30 stations of the Mumbai local train network. These cameras have a tilt angle of 180 to 270 degrees that will help in 360 degrees of an area leaving no blind spot behind. Basically, these cameras will help us keep an eye on the crowd, any abandoned object or trespassing in the stations."

He further added, "The data collected from these cameras will be beamed through an IP network to 12 surveillance stations and will be further relayed to a unified control command. Through these, all these 30 stations will be under a digital eye."

He also said that if the cameras recognise a person whose face is stored in our database, then the administration will be alerted immediately. These cameras can recognise any part of the face like the retina or forehead.  There will also be a multilayered monitoring network for the cameras and the data collected by the cameras will be stored for a period of 30 days.

Thakur added, "These cameras are a step towards holistic surveillance as security and safety of the commuters is paramount to us."

(Agency inputs)