P.V.Anandpadmanabhan

Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) has enhanced the Train Enquiry system by developing a Mobile App and a desktop application for Windows 8 platform. It has now become easier to track the movement of passenger trains and arrival and departure timings for the benefit of passengers. The app connects to the Train Enquiry system at the Back-end.

One of the best features of the new app is “spot your train” which provides information such as its current position, expected time of arrival and departure at a particular station, train schedule, train between two stations, information on cancelled/diverted/rescheduled trains, and trains expected to arrive and depart from a particular station in the next 2 or 4 hours. The App can be downloaded as a free app for Windows 8 phones. It is planned to release it on the Android platform also shortly.

Meanwhile, a new Rail Neer plant at Ambernath near Mumbai was kicked off by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) on Wednesday. The production capacity of the plant would be 2 lakh liters per day, raising the total production (of the four plants) to 6.1 lakh litres of Packaged Drinking Water (PDW) daily.  

Till now, three Rail Neer plants already exist that used to cater to the Northern, Eastern and Southern railways. As there is no Rail Neer Plant in Western India, there was a need for a plant in this region.

The Rail Neer Plant at Ambernath will cater to the need of the railway passengers in this region. Mumbai region is an important gateway for passenger traffic.  The Railway stations in Mumbai region alone handles over 350 trains and about 4.5 lakh passengers every day. Rail Neer conforms to the Bureau of Indian Standards specifications IS: 14543-2004, and is a well-accepted brand among the Railway passengers.