Track your train

What is it? It is a satellitebased railway tracking system, called Satellite Imaging for Rail Navigation (SIMRAN), that uses GPS and GPRS technologies to give real-time information on the movement of trains across the country.

How does it work? A devise, installed in railway engines, will pass the data through GPS to computers at railway stations. The data will be displayed on plasma screens at railway stations.

How is it beneficial to you? The system will be connected to the enquiry counter of railway stations from which one can get information about the location, arrival and departure of a particular train through telephone or Internet.

Is it operational? In the first phase, test runs have been conducted by installing the system at five railway stations, including New Delhi, Lucknow and Kanpur, to monitor 15 trains plying between these stations. The Railway Ministry is planning to implement it on all its 10,000-odd trains gradually.

Who developed? The system has been indigenously created by IIT-Kanpur.

—Manu Kaushik