In a bid to increase its revenue, the Western Railway (WR) has introduced infotainment screens in compartments of eight local trains
In a bid to increase its revenue, the Western Railway (WR) has introduced infotainment screens in compartments of eight local trains.
The project is part of a non-fare revenue scheme and around 20 local trains will be fitted with such infotainment screens in the coming future.
The infotainment devices are LCD screens that have been placed inside the local train compartment that is displaying commercial advertisements along with awareness initiatives and information related to the people at large and railways.
“The initiative has been taken under non-fare revenue model and will fetch the railways ₹65 lakh per annum and around ₹3.45 crore for a period of five years as per the contract. The feedback from the passengers has been positive and encouraging,” said Sumit Thakur, chief public relation officer, WR.
Earlier, the Central Railway (CR) had also planned to install infotainment hotspot devices that would enable passengers to view movies, soap operas, audio-video songs inside the local train compartments. The commuters will be able to stream movies, soap operas inside the compartment with the help of a mobile application.
Presently, luxury trains are operating on the Indian Railways have pre-loaded infotainment device contents provided on LCD devices.
The hotspot devices are also being introduced. The Railway Board, an apex body of all zonal railways, has issued directives to the 18 zones of Indian Railways to increase its revenue.