Railways’ fibre optic network can do much more: Pitroda

Former National Knowledge Commission chairman Sam Pitroda has suggested that the railways could use its grossly underutilised fibre optic network to streamline operations as well as to provide enhanced services to passengers.

According to estimates, only 10 per cent of the railways' vast fibre optic network, running over 60,000km, is currently being used, mainly for telecom purposes.

Pitroda has been picked by railway minister Mamata Banerjee to head a committee to suggest ways to exploit this network.

Speaking to newspersons during the International Railway Conference in New Delhi yesterday, he suggested that the railways use the network for ticketing, freight management, modernisation of trains and organising vendors, utilising information technology so that they could be connected through the web. It could later be used to provide broadband connectivity to people at railway stations.

"We have a huge asset in our fibre optic network. This asset needs to be unlocked in the form of broadband connectivity to people or perhaps first in the form of ICT applications for the railways," Pitroda said. The objective would primarily be to improve the productivity and efficiency of railways by exploiting the network, he added.

He said the formal announcement about the constitution of the committee is expected to happen "any time".