Technology has come to the rescue of the Indian Railways -- operating 310 passenger, Mail and Express trains as of now across the country -- in detecting passengers with coronavirus-like symptoms, as Artificial Intelligence-based surveillance cameras have so far detected 28 passengers with mild fever before they could get on board.

"Central Railway (CR) has taken several measures to prevent COVID-19 spread. In order to effectively scan the passengers for COVID-like symptoms, CR has set up a body screening facility (FebriEye) at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) in Mumbai," CR spokesperson Shivaji Sutar told IANS.

It not only ensures contactless entry for travellers to avoid the spread of coronavirus, but also helped detect 28 passengers whose body temperature was above normal.

"They were not allowed to travel by trains and advised to go for medical check-up and further necessary medical action," he added.

The CR is using the FebriEye human body screening facility developed by Vehant Technologies, which is a thermal and vision camera that not only measures forehead temperature but also detects face mask and social distancing violations.

Sutar said that FebriEye cameras can cover a large areas for scanning, which means these can detect and record body temperatures of a number of people entering at once into a premise even while the prospective passengers are on the move.

Kapil Bardeja, CEO and co-founder of Vehant Technologies, said: "FebriEye has already been used successfully by the Indian Railways at their Mumbai HQ (Central Railway)." Besides, the system has been installed at Bilaspur, Raipur, and Guwahati (North Frontier Railway), he added.

Bardeja said that the equipment is reliable, and generates alerts for violation of any protocols on face masks. It is suitable for deployment in high-footfall areas.

He said that as per the standard operating procedure, passengers are screened with FebriEye before they are allowed to board trains. "Till date, over seven lakh passengers have been screened in Mumbai," Bardeja said.

CR officials said that Febrieye is equipped with 'Black Body', a constant temperature source that ensures accuracy in body temperature readings up to plus or minus 0.3 degree Celsius.

"The device helps maintain a stable thermodynamic ambience. We are using AI- and CCTV- based software as it detects body temperatures and face masks on a real-time basis, apart from social distancing."

Amid the nationwide lockdown, the Indian Railways had suspended train services from March 25. It started operating Shramik Special trains from May 1 to transport stranded migrant workers, students, pilgrims, and tourists.

The Railways started to run special air-conditioned trains from May 12 and 100 pairs of time-tabled trains from June 1. From September 12, the Railways also started operating 40 pairs of trains.

(IANS)