Mumbai: Now, watch that screen while you travel on local trains

For now, these screens on WR trains will display only advertisements and railway/public interest information

Commuters on Western Railway locals were greeted by 24-inch screens in the coaches on Sunday. As of now, the screens will display only advertisements and railway/public interest information. "At least 20 EMU rakes will be fitted with these LCD screens. The contract has been given to M/s Digitech Engineers and Computech Private Limited. The initiative will fetch non-fare revenue of Rs 65 lakh per annum. The contract tenure is five years and the total revenue accruable to the Railways will be over Rs 3.45 crore," Western Railway's Chief Public Relations Officer Sumit Thakur said.

The screens will act as another medium for the Railways to put out messages to passengers, and are expected to add to the aesthetics of the coach while enhancing the travel experience. The feedback in the initial run, officials said, has been very positive.

On the Central Railway, senior railway officials said Content on Demand equipment had been installed in 10 trains so far, and about 165 of them had been listed for installation. The broadcasts are yet to start on CR. Besides the advertisements and railway/public interest information, here the screens will also broadcast entertainment programmes. Content on Demand services is a non-fare revenue monetisation amenity, and is being provided to improve overall commuting experience and at the same time get revenue. A few years ago, a similar experimental project had been tried on the harbour line where secure screens had been fitted in local trains and had been successful as a free-to-air mode.

"On experimental basis, few rakes of local trains have been fitted with CoD infotainment system. The installation is in process," said Shivaji Sutar, chief public relations officer, CR.