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Showing posts with label RailTel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label RailTel. Show all posts

Sunday, 19 January 2020

08:33

e-commerce,m-commerce Services on Trains and Stations will Improve Overall Passenger Experience-Ministry of Railways

e-commerce,m-commerce Services on Trains and Stations will Improve Overall Passenger Experience-Ministry of Railways
Indian Railways to provide Content on Demand Service (CoD) on Trains and Stations
CoD will soon be available in all Premium/Express/Mail and Suburban trains of Indian Railways Full roll out to be completed by 2022; CoD will help generate more non fare revenue
  • Content on Demand (CoD) will soon be available in all Premium/Express/Mail trains and Suburban trains of Indian Railways. With an aim to generate more non fare revenue, Railway Board had entrusted RailTel, a miniratna PSU under Ministry of Railways, with providing the Content on Demand service to passengers in trains. On its part, RailTel has selected M/s Margo Network, a subsidiary of Zee Entertainment as the Digital Entertainment Service Provider (DESP) for providing Content on Demand (CoD) Service on trains and railway stations.  The project will be implemented in two years and the provision of content such as movies, shows, educational programs etc. will be made available both in paid and unpaid formats for a contract period of 10 years which includes first two years of implementation.
  • In this project, RailTel will provide various preloaded multilingual content (Movies, Music Videos, General Entertainment, Lifestyle etc) in moving trains through media servers installed in trains. CoD platform will also provide e-commerce/m-commerce services in various domains e.g. travel bookings (cab, bus, train) and provide various innovative solutions in digital marketing domain. With CoD, passengers will be able to enjoy uninterrupted free/ Subscription based entertainment service and high Quality buffer free streaming across personal devices during their train journey. The content will be periodically refreshed.
  • Talking about the project, Shri Puneet Chawla, CMD/RailTel, said that the full roll out will be completed by 2022. The Content on Demand service will not only improve overall passenger experience but at the same time will increase the non-fare revenue through multiple monetization models. The scope covers all 17 Zones of Indian Railways.The earning from the project will be majorly through three streams e.g. Advertisement based monetization, Subscription based monetization and E-Commerce/Partnership Services.
  • A total of approximately 8731 trains which includes 3003 trains (Premium/Mail/Express- to and fro) pan India and 2864 pairs of Suburban Trains (total 5728 trains) have been kept in the scope of the service rollout. Also CoD will be available at all Wi-Fi enabled Railway Stations which has crossed 5563 Railway stations as on date.
Source:PIBNEWS


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Wednesday, 8 January 2020

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Tuesday, 5 November 2019

08:12

Paperless Work Culture with e-office -Indian Railways

Paperless Work Culture with e-office -Indian Railways
Indian Railways expands e-office system in its work
RailTel Completes Phase-I Execution of NIC e-office for Indian Railways
58 units of Indian Railwaysare using e-office for paperless work
Posted On: 30 OCT 2019 5:03PM by PIB Delhi
  • Indian Railways adopted e-office system to make it paperless, efficient, transparent and expeditious. The implementation of phase-I of NIC e-office suite has been completed ahead of time by RailTel under an MoU with Indian Railways in March 2019 with a mandate to complete the work by March 2020. As of 30.10.2019, RailTel has created 50000+ users in 58 establishments of Indian Railways which have adopted paperless work culture and also trained all the executives to handle the platform.
  • There is an absolute transparency as anything once written on the file is archived. There is also a monitoring mechanism to check as to where the files are held up.
  • This would enable quick disposal of files and systematic, timely monitoring of pending files. With above advantages, Indian Railways will be changing the work culture for providing better services to public.  e-Office fosters paper-less culture which will not only save operational cost but also reduce the carbon foot print.
  • e-Office implementation is a Mission Mode Project (MMP) under the National e-Governance Programme of the Government of India. The project aims to usher in paperless, more efficient, effective and transparent inter-government and intra-government transactions and processes. NIC e-Office is a cloud enabled software developed by National Informatics centre (NIC) that is being deployed/hosted from RailTel Tier III certified data centres at Secundrabad and Gurgaon.It is based on Central Secretariat Manual of e-Office Procedure (CSMeOP).  Currently 4 modules (File Management System (eFile), Knowledge Management System (KMS) Collaboration & Messaging Services (CAMS) & Personnel Information Management System (PIMS) are part of the e-office system being implemented.
Source:PIBNEWS







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Tuesday, 17 July 2018

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Sunday, 26 March 2017

15:20

Indian Railways to install Wi-Fi kiosks at 500 remote stations for e-services

Indian Railways to install Wi-Fi kiosks at 500 remote stations for e-services
Aiming to provide connectivity in remote areas, Railways will set up Wi-Fi hotspot kiosks at about 500 stations and help people access an array of online services, including various government schemes.
Aiming to provide connectivity in remote areas, Railways will set up Wi-Fi hotspot kiosks at about 500 stations and help people access an array of online services, including various government schemes. Christened as Railwire Saathi, the Wi-Fi kiosks will function like a PCO for Digital India and enable people to use services like e-commerce, online banking, offer them access to open school/university and insurance schemes, e-ticketing for train and bus services among others.
Automated form filling, mobile and DTH recharge are other services which the Railwire Saathi is expected to provide in areas with limited connectivity.
The Railwire Saathi aims to provide connectivity to the unconnected and at the same time offer jobs opportunities in rural areas, a senior Railway Ministry official said.
HomeIndia news Indian Railways to install Wi-Fi kiosks at 500 remote stations for e-services
Indian Railways to install Wi-Fi kiosks at 500 remote stations for e-services
Aiming to provide connectivity in remote areas, Railways will set up Wi-Fi hotspot kiosks at about 500 stations and help people access an array of online services, including various government schemes.
Automated form filling, mobile and DTH recharge are other services which the Railwire Saathi is expected to provide in areas with limited connectivity. (PTI)
Aiming to provide connectivity in remote areas, Railways will set up Wi-Fi hotspot kiosks at about 500 stations and help people access an array of online services, including various government schemes. Christened as Railwire Saathi, the Wi-Fi kiosks will function like a PCO for Digital India and enable people to use services like e-commerce, online banking, offer them access to open school/university and insurance schemes, e-ticketing for train and bus services among others.
Automated form filling, mobile and DTH recharge are other services which the Railwire Saathi is expected to provide in areas with limited connectivity.
The Railwire Saathi aims to provide connectivity to the unconnected and at the same time offer jobs opportunities in rural areas, a senior Railway Ministry official said.
While Railways is equipping about 400 stations with free Wi-Fi service in association with Google, this scheme has dual aim – providing jobs as well as connectivity. He said the scheme is expected to be operational by May.
The Railwire Saathi is a Wi-Fi entrepreneurship model where unemployed youths, preferably women, can be trained and supported to set up a Wi-Fi hotspot and provide a platform to online services which will make the business sustainable, he said.
RailTel, the telecom arm of railways, would execute the scheme across the country. Though there are various schemes for minorities, farmers, common man and many avenues for completing education, people in remote areas are generally not aware of them or find it difficult to access them, said the official.
Unemployed youth who wants to be RailWire Saathi would have to contact RailTel for necessary training. The training course will be approved by National Skill Development Council (NSDC). After being trained by RailTel, the youth will get certificate which can be used to get loan under the Mudra scheme, he said.
Using the loan money, they will install and manage the Wi-Fi hotspots as per design provide by RailTel. Railwire Saathi will help in disseminating information about various government schemes like Pradhan Mantri Ujjwal Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna, Pradhan Mantri Atal Pension Yojna, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Beema Yojna and Pradhan Mantri Surakhya Beema Yojna among others.

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Tuesday, 30 August 2016

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Sunday, 26 June 2016

08:00

No Wi-Fi Facility at Chennai Central Station

No Wi-Fi Facility at Chennai Central Station
149/2016-17
25-06-2016
CHENNAI

SHUTTING DOWN OF WI-FI FACILITY PROVIDED AT CHENNAI CENTRAL

Works for provision of enhanced high speed Wi-Fi network at Chennai Central by RailTel Corporation of India Ltd. are in progress.

Due to this, the existing Wi-Fi network has been shut down and the Wi-Fi facility at Chennai Central will be fully cut off from 25thJune, 2016.This has been done to test the new system which will be made available by 14th July, 2016.


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Monday, 20 June 2016

07:51

RailTel launches HD Immersive Video Conferencing service TPaSS

RailTel launches HD Immersive Video Conferencing service TPaSS

Vijayawada: RailTel launched the state of the art HD Video Conferencing Service- Telepresence as a Service (TPaSS) for the Andhra Pradesh Irrigation Department at Vijayawada, in the august presence of Hon’ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Shri Nara Chandrababu Naidu.

Hon’able Minister of Irrigation of AP, Shri Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao, Regional General Manager, RailTel, Shri P.V.Sreekant,Cisco VP Shri Vikram Kumar, Project Manager, Wipro, Shri Venu Gopal, Engineer-in-Chief, Chief Engineers of AP were also present during the event.

RailTel earlier got the Work Order from AP State Water Resources Department for Installation & Commissioning of Cisco’s Telepresence Studios IX 5200 each at Jalasoudha, CM’s Camp Office/Vijayawada, integration with SX 20 in all 13 Districts in AP, in which Wipro is the SI (deal value INR 5,67,19,894/-), through the tendering process.

This project pertains to Water Resources Department wherein it was earlier proposed for installation and commissioning of Cisco’s Immersive Telepresence Studios IX 5200, one each at Jala Soudha, Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh CM’s Camp Office at Vijayawada and integrating with Cisco’s SX 20 in all the 13 district HQs of APWRD.

Andhra Pradesh is the first State Government to deploy such latest equipment in the country. RailTel has connected all the district head quarters of AP & Irrigation HQ at Jalasoudha, Hyderabad with Optical Fibre Network and installed latest state of the art video conference technology called Immersive Tele-Presence. The solution provided to Irrigation Department of AP included setting up of CISCO IX-5200 Tele-Presence studios & the installation of 18 seater immersive CISCO IX-5200 Tele-Presence at Jalasoudha, Hyderabad & APWRD office, Vijayawada. At all the district HQs, CISCO SX-20 Tele Presence equipment with all other end points have been installed.

The collaboration TP solution offered combines the use of video, audio and on-screen drawing capabilities and allows each party of the meeting to dial-in to the Tele Presence room to see/talk to every other member on a screen as if they were in the same roomRailTel launched the state of the art HD Video Conferencing Service- Telepresence as a Service (TPaSS) for the Andhra Pradesh Irrigation Department at Vijayawada, in the august presence of Hon’ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Shri Nara Chandrababu Naidu.

Andhra Pradesh is the first State Government to deploy such latest equipment in the country. RailTel has connected all the district head quarters of AP & Irrigation HQ at Jalasoudha, Hyderabad with Optical Fibre Network and installed latest state of the art video conference technology called Immersive Tele-Presence. The solution provided to Irrigation Department of AP included setting up of CISCO IX-5200 Tele-Presence studios & the installation of 18 seater immersive CISCO IX-5200 Tele-Presence at Jalasoudha, Hyderabad & APWRD office, Vijayawada. At all the district HQs, CISCO SX-20 Tele Presence equipment with all other end points have been installed.

The collaboration TP solution offered combines the use of video, audio and on-screen drawing capabilities and allows each party of the meeting to dial-in to the Tele Presence room to see/talk to every other member on a screen as if they were in the same room. The visual aspect greatly enhances communication, allowing for perceptions of facial expression and other body language.

The immersive Tele Presence solution offered would enhance the productivity of Irrigation department by reducing the travel spend and improving work/life balance. It will allow the department to take prompt decisions as even hand held mobile devices can join multi-party immersive conference in real-time, independent of location.

AP irrigation department plans to use RailTel’s Tele Presence platform for their online SCADA application and water management through smart grid. Chief Minister, during his 3 hour long conference, elucidated the need to exploit technology to effectively utilize water resources in the newly formed state.

RailTel, with its partners M/s Wipro Limted and M/s Cisco, has completed the project within 3 months.

Source:Raitel 
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Thursday, 17 September 2015

19:40

Dainak Bhaskar Group places LOI on RailTel for Telepresence & Internet Bandwidth

Dainak Bhaskar Group places LOI on RailTel for Telepresence & Internet Bandwidth

Mumbai: One of India’s most popular Media conglomerate M/s DB Corp Ltd (Dainik Bhaskar Group) placed an LOI (Letter of Intent) on RailTel for deployment of End to End Telepresence As A Service (TPASS) in which the TelePresense and Internet Bandwidth services will be availed by DB Corporate for a period of 5 years from RailTel.

The total value of the deal is INR 1.75 Crore on rental basis for a period of 5 years, covering 13 locations across the country.

In this the contract, RailTel will deploy its resources to start the implementation post acceptance of the LOI and will submit the deliverables SOW. DB Corp Ltd placed the LOI on RailTel to start the project work in the mutual interest of priorities for both the parties involved and proceed promptly to complete and execute SOW.

Final Work Order will be subject to approvals from DB Management after one month of successful trials as per the SLAs of 99.5% uptime evaluated on monthly basis at CPE till RailTel end point, with HD quality Video, Voice and Data with Zero Jitter/eco/Delay per link/location basis.

DB Corp will avail the services of RailTel at its office locations at Bhopal, Mumbai BKC, Noida, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Indore, New Delhi, Panipat, Patna, Ranchi, Aurangabad and Raipur to start with, in which locations DB Corp will avail 34 Mbps  (E3) Internet Bandwidth at a total of 15 end points and run RailTel’s TPaaS as well.

RailTel is one of the most successful initiative by the Ministry of Railways.  Incorporated as a Telecom PSU under Ministry of Railways under the Schedule-A public sector category

RailTel is Category-I Miniratna Enterprise as on date, offering various Enterprise Telecom Services like Managed Data Services, Leased Lines, Virtual Private Networks, Telepresence Services Internet Leased Lines, Data Centre Services, Tower Colocations, RailWire, Rack and Space Colocation, NLD for Voice Carriage, Consultancy Services as on date, not only to the entire Ministry of Railways, its Production Plants, PSUs and various Institutes/Workshops but also to various large Corporate and Telcos since last 15 years. Recently it had partnered with Google for WiFi Internet Services across 400 Railway Stations in the country and the works are in full swing currently.  Noteworthy to mention that RailTel is the choicest partner for National Knowledge Commission wherein more than 2000 Central and Research Institutes of repute are networked for knowledge sharing and research.  

In fact, RailTel is one of the most sought of Telecom Enterprise for various PSUs as well. Last month, Central RailSide Warehouse Company Limited – a Subsidiary of Central Warehouse Corporation Ltd placed MPLS-VPN order on RailTel for its seamless business processes.
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Thursday, 10 September 2015

22:20

RailTel-Google creates Information Super-highway – jointly establish Wi-Fi Hotspots at 400 Stations

RailTel-Google creates Information Super-highway – jointly establish Wi-Fi Hotspots at 400 Stations

 Wi-Fi Hotspots Project undertaken by RailTel in association with Google is almost complete at more than 18 Railway Stations across India, out of total 400, which are declared as Smart Railway Stations by Ministry of Railways

New Delhi: Indian Railways and Google has joined forces to create India’s largest network of free WiFi across 400 railway stations, pan India.

As per the details obtained, first 30 minutes of this service would enable high speed Internet, after which the speed will drop, but the connection remains active.

This special partnership has been named as ‘Project Nilgiri’; and aims to use Google Fiber technology to provide high speed Internet service.

But the masterstroke which Google has played this time is their partnership with RailTel, to access infrastructure and platform. Indian Railways had announced earlier that they are working on a plan to provide WiFi based Internet across 400 railway stations. But now, the plan looks concrete.

Indian Railways in association with RailTel has currently undertaken a pilot project in association with Google under the code name of ‘Project Nilgiri’ under which in phase 1 we will be setting up Wi-Fi hotspots at approximately 400 stations across India over a span of 4 months from now,” said a source requesting anonymity.

RailTel Corporation of India is a public sector unit, having massive access to connectivity and infrastructure. As of now, RailTel’s network passes through 5000 railway stations across India, connecting 63,500 kms of railway track!

RailTel’s optical fiber cable has already been laid across 32,500 kms pan-India; work is in progress for 29,500 kms. As per Wikipedia, RailTel has “state of the art multimedia telecom network using SDH/DWDM-based transmission systems and high end routers for MPLS-IP network.”

The Wi-Fi work has already been executed at Sealdah, Guwahati, Bhubaneswar, Patna Jn., Raipur, Ranchi, Jaipur, Lucknow (NR), Lucknow Jn. (NER), Hazrat Nizamuddin, Allahabad, Gorakhpur Jn., Ernakulam Jn., Kacheguda, Vijayawada, Mumbai Central (Main), Pune and Bhopal Railway Stations

And the best part is that, DoT has already allocated 2.7 GHz band to RailTel for launching broadband and other Internet based services.

Last year, we had reported that Google Fiber may enter in India, promising a dream-come-true speed of 1 GBPS, something which is unheard in India. Reports emerged that Telangana Govt. may roll out Google Fiber services in the state as well. But the biggest problem is licenses for becoming an ISP in India, and Google may not agree to pay billions of dollars for the same. However, after their association with RailTel, the licensing problem may be taken care of; and actual broadband along all the railway tracks and railway stations may now be provided.

Existing ISPs in India like Airtel, Tata DoCoMo and Reliance may find this news somewhat disturbing; as Google and RailTel can make some serious inroads with such a huge infrastructure coverage and technology. This is certainly one of those path-breaking moments for the Indian traveler and Internet user.

Execution Methodology of Wi-Fi Network at Railway Stations by RailTel and Google:

Fiber Switches of make D-Link DGS-3000-28SC were provided by RailTel for deploying at each Foot Over Bridge, Concourse areas and other strategic locations for Platform and Stations Coverage to provide Wi-Fi access.  All fiber switches are inducted into the master ring of fiber switches as per site topography/ requirement and in the Network, all fiber-switches are connected in a ring configuration pattern. The Fiber Switches have been aggregated on the Aggregator Switches (Juniper ACX 2200 Routers) which are supplied and installed by RailTel in its POP locations. RailTel have provisioned dual ACX 2200 Routers for every station which are dual homed with MPLS Routers.  Access switches are PoE enabled and connected to the Fiber switches using fiber and located broadly as detailed in the diagram above, in STAR configuration with the Fiber Switch.  For platform lengths of more than 700 mtrs, a total of 6 nos. of Access Switches were considered. For coverage in concourse areas near the station platforms, APs are connected to the Access Switch collocated with the Fiber switch.

Google have supplied and installed Access Points (Radio) of Cisco Make (IWE 3702) which were PoE enabled and connected to Access Switches using Cat 6 cables (maximum distance should not be more than 90m).  Google supplied 2 nos. of Access Points connected to a Access Switch and depending on the necessity, Google have supplied additional POE Switch in the same rack, alongwith the UPS supplied and installed by Google for uninterrupted Power Supply at each of the Platform/Concourse. Platform UPS are collocated with the Fiber Switch on the Platforms / Foot over Bridges. Overall, Google have supplied Racks for Fiber Switches, Access Switches, Cat-6 Cable for wiring of Access Points from Access Switches and UPS for Fiber Switch and Access Switch, and the POE enabled Access Points and then installed Access Switch racks, APs, laying and connecting of Cat-6 Cables between Access Switches and APs.

RailTel have supplied Fiber Switches and Access Switches and have installed the Fiber Racks supplied by Google and bifurcated the work into two phases – viz. in Phase-I, RailTel have installed the Fiber Racks, UPS, commissioning of Fiber switch ring and connecting UPS Supply to power up Fiber Switches.  In the Phase-II, as per the cable route plan drawings, installed Access Switches in POE racks, which were supplied and installed by Google and provided Optical Fiber connectivity between Fiber and Access switches using BiDi SFPs.  Every Access switch is dual homed with two fiber switches.  The UPS supply is extended to Access Switches.

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Tuesday, 21 July 2015

07:44

RailTel bags prestigious MPLS-VPN Order from State Bank of India

RailTel bags prestigious MPLS-VPN Order from State Bank of India

Mumbai: Western Region of RailTel Corporation of India Ltd (RailTel) have bagged the prestigious order from India’s largest banking organisation – State Bank of India (SBI) for connecting 3000 SBI branches (including the associate banks) spread across the country.

SBI has placed the Letter of Intent on RailTel on nomination basis. The total value of the deal could be more than INR 60 Crore per annum, said a source from SBI/Belapur on the condition of anonymity.

As part of the deal, RailTel will offer a premium class of services to SBI in 3000 branch locations on the MPLS-VPN.  The delivery at branch sites will be envisaged through OFC/RF whichever is feasible, on RailTel’s networki, however in RF connectivities, RailTel will be using its existing Digital/Analog Microwave towers as well as by constructing new GBTs with the help of the empaneled System Integrator with whom the Rate Contract was signed.

RailTel’s MPLS VPN will support any to any connectivity of the SBI and will be a closed user group for Bank and will not have any physical and logical interference with other customers of the TSP or Internet route/traffic. The architecture used for the complete solution will be end to end enabled with layer-3 routing domain (end to end transparent layer-3 routing using static and dynamic routing) with Latency not more than 120 ms (End to End) for a 1500 byte packet size measured for a minimum of 1000 packets.

SBI also sought special approval from the Strategic Executive Board to empanel RailTel in lines with BSNL to directly place order for Primary 2 Mbps MPLS to branch without tender.  For secondary / alternative links, SBI has already floated a RFP and online reverse auction was conducted on 15th July 15.

State Bank of India has a Wide Area Network (WAN) known as State Bank Connect (SB Connect), connects its branches/offices and that of Associate Banks predominantly on BSNL MPLS which connects around 20000 branches/offices, and additionally around 3500 branches connected through VSATs. The Managed Services for this entire existing network is with Dimension Data India Ltd. (an NTT Group Co.,).  SBI sought to provide alternate connectivity to about 22000 domestic branches/offices of the State Bank Group by June 2016, and for this purpose it is proposed to use Wireless solutions from Telecom Service Providers, except BSNL/MTNL.  State Bank Group (SBG) for the limited purpose of this RFP means State Bank of India, and it‟s Associate Banks.

As part of the deal, RailTel shall submit the details of the technology used related to end to end connectivity from the branch to SBI data center in the following domains:

  • Devices used for end to end connectivity
  • Different type of authentication used at different points of connectivity
  • Level of security and authentication process for providing the connectivity
  • Details of the features available/integrated for Guaranteed availability of service for providing end to end connectivity even during failures at multiple points between branch to Data Center.

The Bank will arrange for UAT & SAT for each type of technology offered by RailTel and clearance will be given only if the Bank finds the technology to be acceptable from a functional, performance and security point of view.  The links at the data center shall terminate on a layer 3 device which will be provided by the Bank. The responsibility of the RailTel for managing the connectivity shall be from the Branch/Office site up to the layer 3 devices, provided by the Bank at the Bank’s data centers. Laying of cables up to the device shall be the responsibility of the RailTel.

The duration of the contract is valid for five years from the date of first Purchase Order yet to issued by SBI. RailTel shall have the option to agree for the extensions of the solution (from the date of expiry of the contract) for any period not less than one year at a time and for any number of times at the request of SBI and at mutually agreed commercials.
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Thursday, 9 July 2015

21:23

Railways’ IT Advisory Council to outline use of IT for Railways to improve Efficiency

Railways’ IT Advisory Council to outline use of IT for Railways to improve Efficiency

New Delhi: A panel set up by the Ministry of Railways is working on creating an IT Vision for the Indian Railways and identifying areas to leverage newer technologies such as Cloud, Analytics, Predictive Analysis and Geographic Information Systems and better Systems Integration to improve the efficiency of its vast and complex Railway network across the country.

Although Indian Railways has been effectively using information technology in areas such as passenger reservation and freight operations, the scope for further transformation is very large, said Som Mittal, former president of IT industry lobby NASSCOM, who is heading the 11-member information technology advisory council which was set up in May.

“The focus is to bring in more efficiency, build in more safety and integrate various operations of railways through technology,” he said. As part of its mandate, the council will “integrate and cover passenger services, freight services, asset management and train operations, safety and security as well as operations/enterprise management of the railways”, and give recommendations for strategy for implementation, capacity building and change management.

The final report of the council, likely to be submitted in the next five to six weeks after widespread consultations with industry and government bodies, will look at how existing and new technology platforms and applications can perform better by talking to each other.

“The council is looking at integrating existing applications, which were initially built for a specific need. Integrating applications will help make realtime information available. There is also a need to look at some apps where technologies are getting obsolete and may need to be rebuilt,” said Mittal.

A nearly 65,000 route km, the network generated revenue of nearly Rs 14 lakh million in 2013-14, of which about 26% came from passenger traffic and 67% from freight.

The focus, Mittal said, is on enabling a transition from management information systems to effective decision support systems, in addition to optimised use of assets and resources efficiency, moving from discrete at-a-time information to real-time information and a more integrated environment.

This real-time data could be obtained, for example, with GPS or GIS tech and using proximity sensors or RFID sensors to track locomotives and wagons. “Indian Railways uses information technology in various aspects of its working, including passenger services, freight services, asset management and back-office applications,” said Mohammad Jamshed, Additional Member (Computerisation and Information Systems), who is also part of the council. “A number of IT applications and systems are in progress and being planned,” he said.

Other members of the council include academics, IT experts, officials from the Ministry and the Centre for Railway Information Systems, which develops and manages IT applications of the railways, RailTel Corporation of India Ltd (a Telecom PSU arm of Indian Railways) and the Department of Electronics and IT.
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Friday, 26 June 2015

22:28

Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Ministry to exploit RailTel’s 43000 Kms OFC Network to enhance Youth Skills

Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Ministry to exploit RailTel’s 43000 Kms OFC Network to enhance Youth Skills

New Delhi: Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy today revealed that a “Big Agreement” with the Ministry of Railways to utilise the 43,000 Rkms-long Optical Fiber Communication network of RailTel Corporation of India Ltd (a Telecom Public Sector Enterprise under Ministry of Railways) was in the offing to train the country’s youth in computer, internet and various other technical skills.

“A big agreement with the Railways is going to be made. It is our largest institution which has a 43,000 km-long optic fibre network across the length and breadth of the country. We will tap it to train youth in computer and internet related skills,” Rudy said.

Rudy said connections will be taken from the optic fibre network laid along the railway tracks and institutions will be built up there to impart such training to the youth.

The training would open a wide range of employment opportunities for the youth, he said.

The minister was speaking on the occasion of signing of an MoU between NTPC, National Skill Development Corporation and National Skill Development Fund here to train 25,000 youths in services and manufacturing sectors over the next five years. Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal was also present at the event.

Reiterating that the Centre aimed to train 30 crore youths over the next 10 years in various skills to provide them gainful employment, Rudy also said that he had talked with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar with an objective to use soldiers retiring from the armed forces as master trainers.

Ruing the lack of skills in India, Rudy, who is also a trained commercial pilot, said only three per cent population in the country were skilled workers, while it was 46 per cent in China, 55 per cent in US, 68 per cent in UK, 74 per cent in Germany, 80 per cent in Japan and 96 per cent in Korea.
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Friday, 5 June 2015

07:26

Passing out Function of IRSSE Probationers–2012 Batch from IRISET on 5th June, 2015

Passing out Function of IRSSE Probationers–2012 Batch from IRISET on 5th June, 2015

Secunderabad (SC): South Central Railway spokes person informed that the Passing out function of Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers (IRSSE) 2012 Batch is scheduled to be held on 5th June, 2015 at the Auditorium of Indian Railway Institute of Signal Engineering & Telecommunications (IRISET), Tarnaka, Secunderabad at 03.30 pm. Navin Tandon, Member Electrical, Railway Board will be the Chief Guest while Shri Pradeep Kumar Srivastava, General Manager, SCR and Shri P.K.Srivastava, Director General, Research Design & Safety Organisation (RDSO) will be the Guests of Honour.

INDIAN RAILWAY SERVICE OF SIGNAL ENGINEERS

The Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers (IRSSE) is a Group A Gazetted cadre of the Government of India. The officers of this service are responsible for managing the Signals and Telecommunications Engineering Organisation of the Indian Railways.

RECRUITMENT

The incumbents who are Graduates in Engineering are selected by the Union Public Services Commission, the apex gazetted recruitment body of the Government of India. The examination consists of Engineering Services Exam  ; all India written test followed by interview for selected candidates. Based on the marks obtained, a choice can be made to join this service. The Engineering Services Examination is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) of India. The UPSC is responsible for recruiting middle and top-level bureaucrats for the Government of India.

ROLE AND FUNCTION

Functional Role : The service abbreviated as IRSSE has the job of Managing the vast Signalling and Telecommunication (S&T) infrastructure of the Indian Railways. This basically is techno-managerial in nature, Signalling principles and operating rules. The Signalling is a function essential for Safe Train operations and Maximizing the utilization of fixed and moving assets (Train rakes, locos, Track, Over Head Power Eqpt etc.). Telecom on the other hand caters for Both Safety related, Operational and Administrative communication needs of the Huge IR network. The Copper Cable, Optical Fibre Telecom and Microwave Links span several Lakh km.

General Management: Like all other IR Engineering (IRSE, IRSEE, IRSME) and Civil service Cadres (like IRTS, IRPS and IRAS), the IRSSE has the responsibility of contributing to the General management of railways. In IR, the general management posts are GM (general manager), AGM (Addl. GM), SDGM (Senior Deputy General Manager), CPRO (Chief Public Relations Officer), DGM (Deputy General Manager) etc. at Zonal level and DRM (Divisional Railway Manager), ADRM (Addl. DRM) at Divisional level. They have also to contribute for posts of CSO (Chief Safety Officers), Sr. DSO and Sr. EDPM.

ORGANISATION

APEX LEVEL :The S&T Organization is headed at apex level (i.e. Railway Board, Ministry of Railways) by ML (Member-Electrical) who heads Electrical and S&T Departments. IRSEE and Passing out Function of IRSSE Probationers–2012 Batch from IRISET on 5th June, 2015


IRSSE have access to this post. He is assisted by two Special Secy rank (equivalent to GM) officers v.i.z Additional Member (Signal) and AM(Tele). Due to importance of Signalling & Telecommunication in the working of Railways, the 5th Central Pay Commission recommended creation of separate post of Member (Signal & Telecom)in the Railway Board. However, the recommendations are yet to be implemented.

ZONES :The Indian Railways has 17 Zonal Railways with an average Track length of about 4000 km and average staff strength of about 80,000 headed by GMs. The Zonal Organizational structure of Signal Engineers is headed by HAG/SAG grade IRSSE officer designated as CSTE (Chief S&T Engr) who is assisted by various SAG officers designated as CSE (Chief Signal Engr), CCE (Chief Communication Engr), CSTE (Planning), CSTE(Projects) and CSTE(Construction) and SG/JAG, SS & JS grade officers designated as Dy CSTEs, SSTEs and ASTEs.

DIVISIONS : Each Zone is divided into 3-7 Divisions each with an average track length of about 1000 km and staff strength of about 15000 headed overall by DRM (Divisional Railway Manager).

At this Level the Signal Engineers are Headed by a JAG/SG grade IRSSE officer designated as Sr.DSTE (Senior Divisional S&T Engineer) who is in turn assisted by SS & JS grade officers designated as DSTEs and ASTEs. An IRSSE officer starts his career as an ASTE who is the Team leader of about 100-200 staff.

DEPUTATION OPPORTUNITIES

Most of the IRSSE Officers have an opportunity to join/opt on deputation in organisations like RailTel Corporation of India Limited (A Telecom PSU under Ministry of Railways) and Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) – an IT Arm of Indian Railways etc.

Indian Railways Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunications

undefinedSetup in 1957 by the Ministry of Railways, Government of India, to cater to specialised training needs of their own staff and officers in the field of Railway Signalling and Telecommunication, Indian Railways Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunciations (IRISET) in the first year of its existence was concerned only with imparting training to Apprentices JE (junior engineers) Signal and Apprentice JE (junior engineers) Telecommunication, but subsequently, in view of the rapid developments in the field of Signaling and Telecommunication, several specialised technical training needs of Officers and Staff of Signal and Telecommunication Department in Signal Engineering, Telecommunications Technology, Electronics and Information Technology Training have also been introduced. Facilities available in this Institute are also extended to foreign nationals.

Located in the southern part of India in Secunderabad adjoining the capital city of Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh, the Institute is spread over about 28.3 hectares. IRISET provides initial as well as advanced training, theory as well as hands on, in Railway Signalling and Telecommunications. It caters to the total training requirement of the Officers and the Supervisors of Signal and Telecommunication department of Indian Railways.

IRISET is in the approved list of ESCAP and UNDP. It provides training in Railway Signalling and Telecommunications to private and public sector enterprises as well. It also train officials of Foreign Railways.

There are four hostels in the campus itself, one for officers and three for supervisors. There are laboratories for all the important areas of Railway Signalling & Telecommunication to provide hands on training in the Institute. The lecture halls are equipped with the modern teaching aids.
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Thursday, 23 April 2015

10:45

RailTel’s RailWire set to become largest Cable, Video & Internet provider across the country

RailTel’s RailWire set to become largest Cable, Video & Internet provider across the country

In the past 65 years, cable has emerged from a fledgling novelty for a handful of households to the nation’s preeminent provider of digital television, movies and state-of-the-art broadband Internet service available to millions of Indians

Today, thanks to broadband cable and other breakthroughs, the technological landscape is unrecognizable compared with even a few years ago. Consumers now enjoy video content and Internet access from multiple services, multiple service providers and on multiple devices. They can go online anytime, anywhere with more options and opportunities than ever and arrival of the new millennium brought with it hopes and plans for acceleration of advanced services over cable’s broadband networks.  As the new millennium got under way, cable companies began pilot testing video services that could change the way people watch television. Among these: video on demand, subscription video on demand, and interactive TV. The industry was proceeding cautiously in these arenas, because the cost of upgrading customer-premise equipment for compatibility with these services was substantial and required new business models that were both expansive and expensive.

Indian Railways is all set to become your neighbourhood cable, video and broadband service provider. RailTel Corporation of India Ltd – the Telecom PSU arm of Indian Railways would soon take the project nationwide, which till now was tested in different states successfully.

RailTel, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Railways, in 2013 began its project on a pilot basis to provide broadband and content to households particularly in remote areas in association with cable operators and other access network providers, by utilizing their last mile.

The project, now called RailWire, has not moved much since, being restricted to just about 30,000 households in southern states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh.

“We are now looking at going to other regions and looking for partners who will provide the last-mile connectivity,” RailTel Chairman and Managing Director R K Bahuguna said.

RailTel would be eyeing mostly the non-metro areas where reaching out to households is not exactly a profitable proposition for many of the MSOs (Multi-System Operators), he said. RailTel was formed in 2000 to commercially exploit the Optical Fibre Network laid along railway tracks, which then covered 47000 route kilometres.

“As of now we have laid OFC network of 47,000 km and within a year’s time we would reach 50,000-km mark,” Bahuguna said. Leveraging this network, RailTel provides services like connectivity to government departments and undertakings. It connects some remote mines of Coal India, provides networks like National Knowledge Network connecting IITs, IIMs. Banks and other research establishments, offers services to telecom operators as well in the short haul and long haul distances, and also provides services like telecom tower collocations.

RailTel’s revenue in the last fiscal was Rs 550 crore, and around 10% of it came from parent Indian Railways. Most of RailTel’s services till now are on an enterprise level. Its household broadband service would give it a retail face. But challenges lie ahead as the market is highly competitive, which makes entry into metros restrictive as such markets are already being catered to by the Multi-System Operators or MSOs.

In cities, RailTel plans to provide high-speed 10 mbps broadband services with the help of the MSOs who have the access network, he said.

These apart, RailTel is also banking on its recently launched HD video-conferencing service, called Telepresence in partnership with Cisco, offering corporates and government bodies to hold virtual meetings on a rental basis without having to invest in hardware or connections.
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Thursday, 12 February 2015

23:57

RailTel with high tech service for flagging off trains - Telepresence Service Provider

Railway Minister Flags off four more new Trains 

 The Minister of Railways, Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu flagged off four new trains and extension of one train by remote control at a function here today. The Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha was specially present on the occasion. The flagging off trains by remote was done through Telepresnce Service provided by RailTel, the Public Sector Undertaking of the Ministry of Railways. The telecom directorate of Railway Board coordinated the entire video conferencing, connecting five places namely, Bhavnagar, Ranchi, Santragachi, Anuppur and Jhajha. 

 These new trains are; i) 19579/19580 Bhavnagar-Delhi Sarai Rohilla Link Express (Weekly), ii) 18629/18630 Ranchi-NewJalpaiguri Express (Weekly), iii) 68001/68008 Santragachi-Jhargram MEMU (5 days a week), and iv) 68749/68750 Anuppur-Ambikapur MEMU (6 days a week) as well as extension of 63208/63211 Jhajha-Patna MEMU to Jasidih. All these trains are part of the Budget announcements. 

 RailTel has come up with this high tech service of providing Telepresence on opex model where the client doesn’t have to the investment on buying or setting up the equipments which makes RailTel’s service most cost effective for the customers. Telepresence service provided by RailTel offers a more engaging video conference with cutting edge technology, so that the parties involved feel the immersive presence of participants at different locations. The service is designed to improve collaboration, save executive time, reduce costs and carbon footprint with no capital investment and obsolescence risk 

 Earlier, the Railway Minister flagged off five new trains yesterday i.e. on 11th February 2015, three new trains on 10th February 2015 and eight new trains on 9th February 2015. So far the Railway Minister Shri Prabhu has flagged off 20 new trains during this week through remote contro. 

 Board Members and senior railway officials were also present on the occasion. 

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Friday, 8 August 2014

07:51

Railways to spend INR 55 Crore to provide WiFi in important trains: But when?

Railways to spend INR 55 Crore to provide WiFi in important trains: But when?

New Delhi: Indian Railways has proposed to introduce Wi-Fi facility at A1 and A category stations and in 50 rakes of important trains, like Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duranto, reports the Press Information Bureau. Indian Railways had already introduced WiFi facility in 3 rakes of Howrah-New Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani Express as a pilot project, in April 2013 after initially announcing it in February 2011.

For this pilot project Eastern Railway has apparently spent Rs.6.67 crore. For the proposed introduction of Wi-Fi facility in other Rajdhani trains and in Shatabdi and Duranto category of trains an estimated budget of Rs.55 crore has been fixed. Also, it seems the Northern Railway has already been provided Rs.1 crore in the current financial year to begin executing this.

RailTel Corporation of Indian Limited (RailTel) – a public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Railways, will provide the Wi-Fi facility in stations through independent internet service providers (ISPs), with no investment on part of the Railways. Back in 2006 and again in 2008-09, RailTel notified that it plans to create Wi-Fi hotspots in 500 stations and also extend the service to the neighbouring areas.  Eight years have passed but next to no progress on this front.
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