As part of an initiative to improve passenger amenities, multi-colour LED coach indication boards have been installed at Tiruchi Railway Junction.
Twenty-four boards have been fixed on platform 1 to replace the existing ones.
The striking feature of the boards is that they would display the name of the train and the ‘via route’ in addition to the train number and the coach number. The train number, name of the train and “via route” would be scrolling while the coach number would be static.
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The existing boards put up by the signal and telecommunication branch of the Railways display only the coach number and the train number.
The multi-colour boards have been put up by a private agency for one year on a trial basis under the commercial publicity route, railway officials told The Hindu .
The private agency that has paid licence fee to the Railways will maintain and operate the boards. A separate room has been earmarked for the agency at the junction to operate the system.
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Testing of the new boards would be done, and they would be commissioned shortly, a senior official here said.
Railways authorities have planned to install multi-colour boards on platform, 2, 3, 4 and 5 at the junction in due course of time.
The total number of boards to be put up at the junction would be 120.
Plans are also afoot to install such boards at Villupuram and Puducherry.
The new boards are novel in the sense that they provide more information to rail passengers, the official said adding that the Railways would earn revenue without incurring any expenditure.
The agency would mop up revenue by displaying commercial advertisements which would be scrolling beneath the railway-related information.
Such multi-colour boards were installed at Kumbakonam station in November making Tiruchi railway division the first in Southern Railway zone to have such boards, the official said.
Railway authorities will soon call in for open tenders for installation of such multi-colour boards at 17 stations, including Thanjavur, Mayiladuthurai and Mannargudi, in Tiruchi railway division.