GPS electronic lock to secure railway parcel vans and freight wagons under Eastern Railway

According to sources in the Eastern Railway, if the system is successful on trial, it will be installed in parcel vans of all major trains and freight wagons in which essential and expensive goods are dispatched.

Howrah:The Eastern Railway is set to introduce a GPS-based electronic lock system for the safety and security of parcel vans and freight wagons. This GPS electronic lock system has been introduced in the Eastern Railways' Howrah railway division as a pilot project. It will be launched in various railway divisions of the Eastern Railway in near future.

Eastern Railway sources said that if the system is successful on trial, it will be installed in parcel vans of all major trains and freight wagons in which essential and expensive goods are dispatched. Eastern Railway had also tweeted about the initiative. For a long time, various passenger trains or freight cars used to carry goods with padlocks or wire seals and many cases of theft were registered. Whereas the looting of freight wagons has been a frequent issue, cases of theft from luggage vans in long-distance trains are also reported.

Eastern Railway has started using a GPS-based electronic lock system on goods and parcel trains as a pilot project particularly to prevent theft. This new lock system has been attached on the Howrah-Guwahati Saraighat Express parcel vans in the Howrah rail division of the Eastern Railway on a trial basis.

The vans or wagons will be locked at the start of the journey by authorized staff through OTP. After hitting the destination only authorised persons can unlock this system through another OTP. Since the GPS system is there, there will be a clear record of which station the goods are being unlocked. According to Eastern Railway sources, this lock cannot be tampered with. As a result, goods carrying wagons and railway parcel vans will be protected from now on, sources said.