Title - Ernakulam South station to get latest security system

Kochi: The Railways has announced the revised commissioning date of integrated security system (ISS) at the three railway stations in Kerala. The head of Southern Railway (SR) security department, Kerala, will see the state-of-the-art security system getting functional in July, 2012.

The ISS was announced to be implemented in the Southern Railway at a cost of Rs 3.6 crore and Thiruvananthapuram Central, Ernakulam Junction and Kozhikode railway station were selected in Kerala.

The ministry had announced before the railway budget that ISS would be set up by March 2012, but it failed to become a reality in the state.

Chief security commissioner of SR, V K Dhaka told TOI that works were moving ahead at a brisk pace and the system was expected to go operational by July.

"The security of passengers continues to be a major priority for the Railways and once completed, we will have the entire railway premises, at each of these stations, under surveillance," he said.

The ISS stations will have both hand-held and wooden-framed metal detectors to frisk passengers and their luggage. Parcel offices will have metal detectors and RPF personnel will be equipped with vehicle scanners to detect presence of explosive materials. Bomb-suppressing blankets and bomb detection and disposal kits are also part of the package. Around 40 high definition surveillance cameras will be installed on the station premises that will help personnel sitting in the CCTV room monitor frontage, platforms, booking offices, food parlours and parking spaces.