Indian Railways to roll out Automatic Identification and Data Collection

The Indian Railways is to implement plans for RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification). The railways is to tag around 3,50,000 rolling stocks by 2021.

Highlights

Under the programme, around 3,500 coaches have been fitted with RFID so far. This will help the Indian Railways in early identification of rolling stock. A rolling stock includes carriages, locomotives, wagons and other vehicles used in Railways.

In order to ID the rolling stocks and collect their tracking data, the Indian Railways has joined hands with GS1 Indian. The tie up has been made under “Make in India” initiative.

RFID

RFID is a technology that exchanges data trough Radio Frequency. The tag is used to track individual objects. The RFID tags are designed by Centre for Railway Information Systems.

CRIS

The CRIS develops and maintains information systems of Indian Railways. CRIS is located in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. It was established in 1986.

Need

Indian Railways is the largest railway system in the world. It carries around 3 million tonnes of freight and 23 million passengers in over 65,000 kilometres route. Therefore, it is essential to trace rolling stocks and track them accurately.

Month: Current Affairs - January, 2020