Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Union Railways Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, announced the RailTech Policy and the complete digitisation of the Railway Claims Tribunal (RCT) as Reform Number Three and Reform Number Four. The Rail Tech Policy aims to engage “innovators, startups, industry and institutions to promote innovation in Indian Railways.
“The new policy simplifies the selection of innovators and introduces a dedicated “Rail Tech Portal” for innovation. Innovation challenges can be initiated by any innovator or departmental user, with a single-stage detailed submission of proposals.
Key innovation areas include AI-based Elephant Intrusion Detection System (EIDS), AI-based fire detection system in coaches, drone-based broken rail detection system, rail stress monitoring system, sensor-based load calculation device on parcel vans (VPUs), solar panels on coaches, AI-based coach cleaning monitoring system, obstruction detection in foggy environments, and AI-based pension and dispute resolution systems.
Outlining the third reform, Vaishnaw said the RailTech Policy is designed to enable massive and systematic induction of technology into the Railways. He emphasised that “startups, researchers and innovators must be able to connect with Indian Railways in a structured, meaningful and simplified manner.” He said that anyone with a strong technological idea should be able to approach the Railways through a dedicated RailTech portal, which will function through a completely digital, end-to-end process.
