A unique pilot project to be launched next month is all set to help Indian Railways trace over 5,000 ‘missing’ freight wagons. With a significant chunk of its 2,00,000-strong fleet untraceable at any given point of time due to obsolete manual tracking techniques, the Railways will now begin using cutting-edge radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to keep a tab on wagon whereabouts.For starters, 500 wagons running between Talcher and Paradip on the Eastern Railways will be embedded with RFID tags at a cost of Rs 2 crore. Sheds along the route would be provided with fixed scanning devices that would read these chips while the train passes through the station.“We are unable to trace almost 5,000 wagons at any point of time, because it takes 15 days, sometimes more, to manually track wagons detached from a rake and standing at a yard,” says a senior official at the government-owned Centre for Railway Information Systems, which is implementing the project. The data read by the RFID scanner would be registered on the Railway’s online freight operating information system, resulting in timely and accurate revision of the registry. Complete knowledge of its rolling stock is expected to help the Railways — which has been facing stiff competition from a resurgent road transport sector — improve its service, scheduling, tracking and reduce the number of manual errors that cause disruptions.The official said human errors occur at two points — while recording the wagon number on paper and while feeding it into the system. Wagons usually carry a combination of about 12-14 digits and alphabets — which, when interchanged, can convey different information. “The RFID system would eliminate the need for ‘number-takers’ — individuals who note the arrival and departure of wagons from yards,” says the official.Tenders for the RFID contract have received interest from 11 companies, and the Railways expect to award the deal by March-end. “We will evaluate the results from the pilot run for a month and then look at taking it nationwide at an approximate cost of Rs 200 crore,” he added.Countries using the technology include the US, Israel, the Netherlands, the UK, Switzerland, South Africa, China, Germany and Russia.
