Title - IP-based CCTVs at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) , five other city stations

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) will soon become the first railway station in the city to have internet protocol-based smart CCTV cameras that will automatically detect unusual movement or activity and sound an alarm. The current surveillance system is reactive, as video footage is analysed only after an incident.

As part of integral security system (ISS), Central Railway (CR) will install IP-based CCTVs at five other major suburban stations as well.

The cameras, to be installed in the next three months, will be equipped with "software command and control" that will flag suspect behavior and set off an alarm.

The contract to install 423 CCTVs in the first phase was awarded to Tata Group company Nelco six months ago.

The new installations will take the count of CCTVs at CST, Dadar, Kurla, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Thane and Kalyan stations to 784.

"Within three months, installation of IP-based CCTVs will begin at CST.

There are 132 CCTVs at CST and 130 IP-based cameras will be added. The new cameras will enable staff at three CR offices to monitor feeds simultaneously on the internet," said a senior CR official.

Anil Sharma, Chief Security Commissioner, Railway Protection Force (RPF), Central Railway, said: "CR has awarded a Rs 24-crore contract to Nelco for vehicle scanners, baggage-screening systems, explosive detection and disposal systems and metal detectors. IP-based cameras with command and control software are part of ISS.

"The software will also record action taken, if any, by security personnel. There is also a plan to train railway staff in behavioral science."

At most stations and railway premises at present, footage from CCTV cameras is monitored by RPF personnel or the station master or booking clerks.

"Now, the feeds will be monitored by RPF, signaling department and the company that is given the contract," said a senior official.