2.  Indian Railways is a Department of the Government of India, under the Ministry of Railways, and is tasked with operating the rail network in India.  Indian Railways has a total state monopoly on India's rail transport. It is one of the largest and busiest rail networks in the world, transporting seventeen million passengers and more than two million tons of freight daily. IR is the world's largest commercial or utility employer, with more than 1.6 million employees.  The railways traverse the length and breadth of the country; the routes cover a total length of more than 63,327 km (39,500 miles). ] As of 2008, IR owned about 225,000 wagons, 45,000 coaches and 8300 locomotives and ran more than 18,000 trains daily, including about 8,984 passenger trains and 9,387 goods trains.  Railways were first introduced to India in 1853. Indian Railways operates both long distance and suburban rail systems.

3.  Increased operational efficiency ◦ Improve productivity from existing systems. ◦ Streamline and optimize business procedures.  Responsiveness to constituents ◦ Create end-to-end visibility into the business. ◦ Make the information accessible and actionable.  Adaptability to change ◦ Re-act quickly to threats and opportunities ◦ Turn IT into a competitive business asset

4.  Indian Railways has been a pioneer in the use of IT in India. IT was first adopted in the 1960s, when computerized passenger and freight revenue accounting, payroll and inventory management were introduced using IBM 1401 computers placed in zonal data centers. Objective ◦ Freight revenue enhancement ◦ Passenger revenue enhancement ◦ Improved and optimized service

5. ROLE 1: An information highway In this role IT provides information across the organization where and when required, through a number of standard applications that allow capture of information at the point of generation and then dissemination of the captured information. ROLE 2: A Personal Productivity Tool It is a tool for increasing productivity at all levels. Several pre-packaged applications like Office suites, website management, e-mail etc. fall into this category.

6. Five year period StageDescription Period 1: 2005-10 Automation The automation of the existing functional areas of railways. Examples are PRS and FOIS. By 2010, process automation will be by and large complete. Period 2: 2010-15 Synergy In synergy stage the separate systems put in place will begin to interchange information amongst them and this information interchange process will be automated by the end of this period. Period 3: 2015-20 Global Acceptance The databases across the organizational network will find increasing acceptance as authentic sources of information. Period 4: 2020-25 IntegrationA total revamp of IS built in the last twenty years. It will include forecasting, modeling etc.

7. Level No: LevelType of SystemDescriptionExamples 1OperationalTransaction processing system A TPS helps to streamline operating tasks and is primarily for use by frontline staff. PRS and FOIS 2 Knowledge Level Office Automation System Set of tools that enables knowledge workers to streamline their own work. MS Office Suite Knowledge Work System Set of tools that enable skilled workers in specialized jobs to streamline their work. Computer Aided Design(CAD) 3ManagerialManagement Information System It collects information from the base TPS system, collates it and presents it to the management. MIS reports in PRS and FOIS Decision Support System It provides assistance to managers in taking decisions. Highly summarized data which allows analysis. 4StrategicExecutive Support SystemAssists top management in formulating long term policies and plans. Long Range Decision Support Systems(LRDS S)

8.  Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) was established in 1986 by the Ministry of Railways at Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. It was to be an umbrella organization for all computer activities in the Indian Railways. They were also entrusted with the task of the design, development and implementation of the Freight Operations Information Systems (FOIS), along with it’s associated communications infrastructure. This Centre started functioning from July 1987. It is an autonomous organization headed by a Managing Director. CRIS is mainly a project oriented organization engaged in development of major computer systems on the Railways. CRIS has acquired special knowledge and expertise in the field of informatics. With such rich practical experience, a dedicated team of professionals and its own R&D effort, CRIS aims to be a leader in this fast developing field. Today, CRIS has come a long way with its activities encompassing the entire gamut of design, development, implementation and maintenance of large online applications, such as Freight Operations Information Systems (FOIS) and Passenger Reservation System (PRS) of Indian Railways. CRIS approach focuses on new ways of business combining IT innovation and adoption while also leveraging an organization's current IT assets. CRIS works with the Indian Railways to build new products or services and to implement prudent business and technology strategies in today's dynamic digital environment.

9.  Freight Operation Information System (FOIS)  Passenger Reservation System (PRS)  National Train Enquiry System (NTES)  Booking of Tickets on Internet  Integrated Coaching Management System (ICMS)  Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS)  Office Automation & E-Working Group (OEAW)

10. Freight Operations Information System USER DRIVEN DESIGN AND IMLEMENTATION FOIS An on line real time system for management and control of freight traffic

11.  Continuous cargo visibility has always been viewed as the most critical component of any physical distribution system. FOIS enables freight customers to have instant access to information regarding the current status of their consignments in transit, for just in time inventory. It is a system for management and control of freight movement that also assists managers to optimise asset utilisation.  FOIS comprises the Rake Management System (RMS) for handling the operating portion

12.  FOIS has been designed to give strategic advantages to both Indian Railways and its customers. The implementation of the system is envisaged to eventually achieve the following:- ◦. Global tracking of consignments in real time whether in rakes or in individual wagons. The insight and pipeline of consignments would be seamlessly available for timely planning and just in time inventory management. ◦ Facilitate acceptance of customer's orders, billing and cash accountable from identified nodal customer centres which, may not necessarily be the handling terminals. The system as implemented up to now performs the following functions: ◦ Monitoring of all freight trains indicating their position in computerized territory and their expected time of arrival at destination. Commodity wise flow of freight trains for customers like Power Houses, Refineries, Feritlizers and Cement Plants, Steel Depots and Public Freight Terminals enabling the recipients of consignments to have an accurate forecast of cargo arrivals giving them adequate time to complete preparatory arrangement to handle the cargo. ◦ Full particulars of detachments from block rakes are recorded and updated eliminating chances of wagons getting unconnected or missing. ◦ Details of rakes/Wagons in various yards, their phase-wise detention in different terminals, eliminating the need for costly manual documentation and tedious retrieval systems and inaccuracies. ◦ Managerial reports regarding availability of rolling stock, i.e. wagons and locomotives at any instant of time to plan for their most efficient utilization.

13. ◦ With the use of the system there has been a visible reduction in the anxiety levels mental stress and confusion amongst railway customers and its operating staff. ◦ The system information is being used to club less than train load consignments from different loading stations. The words of appreciation from bulk customers who are being advised through e-mail the status of their consignments, is a clear indication that the anticipated benefits from FOIS have already begun to accrue to the customers. Interactive web based solutions to give customised reports to Railway Board, Zonal Railways and Divisions is in place.

14.  PRS started in 1985 as a pilot project in New Delhi. The objective was to provide ticketing system for reserved accommodation on any train from any counter, preparation of train charting and keeping a proper record of the money received. This was implemented all over Indian Railway later on. With this implementation any passenger can get a reserved ticket from one destination to another station of India Railway from any Passenger Reservation Systems counter of Indian Railways.  PRS networking of entire Indian Railways completed in April, 1999.  PRS is running currently at 1,200 locations, Deploying 4,000 terminals, covering journeys of 3,000 trains and executing ONE MILLION passenger transactions per day.  Internet booking of tickets was started In August 2002.  Internet booking timings extended to 4:00 a.m. – 11:30 p.m. from March 2005.

16.  This project involves the integration of five major regional reservation centers. It therefore enables better coordination to improve the reservation process. The major regional centers with all the information for their regions coordinate for better planning and control. This is a complex but comprehensive system which provides for better functioning of the reservation process. IT enables this scale of coordination and such systems rely heavily on a strong IT backbone. Leased lines are predominantly used to connect this system.  This system demonstrates high levels of performance. It takes less than one second for a local transaction and three seconds for a networked one. It is capable of providing reservations for 22 hours per day.  The large volumes of passenger traffic that the Indian Railways handles makes the PRS a quintessential part of the Railways’ IT infrastructure.

17.  National Train Enquiry System (NTES) is a centralized information system that provides up-to-date and accurate information to passengers regarding arrival/ departure of passenger trains including expected time of arrival (ETA) of trains. Why NTES? 1. Arrival and departure of passenger trains 2. Platform berthing of passenger trains 3. Facilities available at various stations ( e.g. retiring rooms) 4.Railway Rules 5.To make above information available on internet

18. The above information is made available to the public through:  Display Boards  Interactive Voice Response System ( telephone enquiry)  Automatic Announcement System  Face to Face Enquiry counters  TV display  Web Sites The above information is available at:  Arrival Departure Information - Control Offices  Platform Berthing - Stations  Other Data - Designated Database Operator

19.  E-ticketing initiative is critical in the current scenario of rapid growth of internet usage and technologies. This offers customers the convenience of reserving tickets from the comfort of their homes. This is in keeping with the times. The Indian railways are making an effort to use IT for not only higher profitability but also for better customer facilities which will also indirectly lead to higher profits. This is all made possible by IT.

20. 1. PUNCTUALITY MODULE  Railway Punctuality Performance for a date for a Division  Movement of Trains Division wise in a Zone  Punctuality percentage of Mail/Express  Cause wise/Gauge Wise breakup of Lost Trains between dates  Division wise analysis of Cause of Lost Trains on Date in a Zone  Railway Punctuality performance for a date in a Zone  Cause wise breakup of Trains lost in a period  Summary of Monitored trains daily Run and Lost  Section wise/Cause wise analysis for all trains on a date  Zone wise/Cause wise analysis for all trains on a date etc

21. COACHING STOCK MODULE  To monitor the condition and location, status and history of the coaching stock.  To monitor the coaching rakes, their locations, arrival – departure.  To generate stock reports.  To find Coaches in Foreign Railways.  To plan special trains.  To provide data for planning and rescheduling of rakes.  To optimize utilization of each coach and timely maintenance (POH) and repairs.  For prompt planning for idle coaches and their timely bookings and usage to generate more revenue for the railways.  Through mailing and messaging end users may communicate.

22. COACHING MAINTENANCE MODULE  Platform and enroute attention module  Enroute rolling in and rolling out  Brake Power Check, Train watering, Gang booking  Washing line and sick line Placement Module including Pit line occupation status, placement advice, Rake fitness and withdrawal advice etc.  Depot Maintenance activities including all types of component based maintenance.  Material Management which will include Depot stores management, indent flow etc.  Staff Module to include muster roll preparation, staff skill development etc.  Functional modules for superior management(Divisional, Zonal and Railway Board)

23.  More than 1.2 crore Rail passengers travel in unreserved coaches and trains every day and thus form the bulk of rail users. For this category of passengers Railways have introduced the facility of Computerised Unreserved Ticketing System. It was initially provided at 10 stations of Delhi area in the first stage as a pilot project on 15 August 2002. Another 13 stations of Delhi area were provided with UTS counters in the second stage on 2 nd Oct, 2002.  UTS will provide the facility to purchase Unreserved Ticket 3 days in advance of the date of journey. A passenger can buy a ticket for any destination from the UTS counter for all such destinations which are served by that station. The cancellation of tickets has also been simplified. Passengers can cancel their tickets one day in advance of the journey from any station provided with a UTS counter. On the day of journey, the ticket can be cancelled from station from which the journey was to commence.  Indian Railway is constantly looking for new ideas to simplify and streamline procedures for the convenience of passengers. In this endeavor they have introduced several path breaking technologies on the Railway system over the years.

24. With the introduction of this system, the Railways will also benefit in several ways. These are:  Keeping pace with the latest technology  Encouraging passengers to purchase their tickets in advance  To have online accountable of tickets sales.  To have a rational analysis of the demand of passengers on various routes in advance, so as to augment trains as per requirement.

25. Advantages for Passengers:  Reduced queue length  Enable advance planning of unreserved journey also  Reduced crowds at booking offices and stations, making ticket purchase more comfortable  Allow Indian Railways to plan extra trains and coaches as per trend of sales registered in the system.  Unreserved itinerary planning possible, tickets available from any station to any station.