With the commissioning of advanced parcel scanner at Tiruchi junction, railway parcels are now subjected to closer scrutiny before their dispatched through passenger trains. The sophisticated equipment has been provided to Tiruchi under the technology-aided Integrated Security Scheme (ISS) to thwart movement of explosives and other unauthorised substances by rail. An UPS has been provided to ensure the working of parcel scanner even during power failure.
All outgoing parcels booked at Tiruchi junction were being scanned before loading them in passenger trains, says a Railway Protection Force (RPF) officer.
Many parcels loaded in Tiruchi were being sent by trains including the Ernakulam-bound Tea Garden express, Mayiladuthurai-Mysore express, Chennai-bound Rockfort and Mangalore expresses and Tiruchi-Howrah express. Fish, eggs, clothes, flowers, and computer peripherals are among the host of things dispatched by rail from Tiruchi.
Personnel of the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad of the RPF were deployed in shifts to man the parcel scanner installed at the railway parcel office situated along platform 1. The exercise of checking the consignments by putting them through the parcel scanner commenced from January last week onwards, says the officer.
Parcel scanner is one among the battery of hi-tech security gadgets provided to Tiruchi by the railway administration under the ISS which was conceived in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008.
A couple of vehicle scanners also supplied under the ISS are expected to be put to use soon in Tiruchi as the scanner cabins were also being readied. The vehicle scanners would be installed near the computerised passenger reservation system at the station’s main entrance.
The equipment would provide high resolution images of any foreign objects or explosive substances hidden under the vehicle entering the station premises, the officer said.
Real-time viewing system, vapour tracers, couple of baggage scanners, and surveillance cameras constitute the host of advanced gadgets already provided to Tiruchi. Tiruchi is one among the major railway stations identified across the country for implementation of ISS.
Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Madurai, Coimbatore, Ernakulam, and Thiruvananthapuram are among the other stations falling within the Southern Railway zone to be brought under the scope of ISS.
