Herta Wins Biometric Contract for Indian Railways

Indian Railways has awarded a major biometric security contract to Spanish firm Herta, which will see its facial recognition technology deployed across a large railway network. This move is part of Indian Railways' effort to enhance security across its vast network, spanning over 67,000 kilometers of track and connecting more than 7,300 stations.

The contract will see facial recognition-equipped cameras installed at 230 stations in an initial deployment phase, which Herta expects to complete this year. This will be followed by additional deployments in the north and west of India.

Herta, founded in 2009 and based in Barcelona, focuses on providing biometric solutions for various security applications, including access control, surveillance, and forensic analysis. In addition to facial recognition technology, Herta has also developed an emotion detection system based on face biometrics, dubbed “BioObserver”.

Indian Railways first announced plans to implement a biometric surveillance network in 2022, with the installation of the system to be carried out by Rail Tel, a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the Ministry of Railways. Given the considerable extent of its railway network, work on this project appears to have extended considerably beyond Indian Railways’ initial timeline, which was meant to cover 756 stations in an initial phase that would conclude by 2023.

Indian Railways is a state-owned national railway system of India, operated by the Ministry of Railways. Herta is a Spanish company that specializes in providing biometric solutions for various security applications."

Q: What is the scope of the biometric security contract awarded to Herta?

A: The contract involves the deployment of facial recognition technology across 230 Indian Railway stations, with additional deployments planned for the north and west of India.

Q: What is the significance of Indian Railways' biometric surveillance network?

A: The biometric surveillance network aims to enhance security across Indian Railways' vast network, which spans over 67,000 kilometers of track and connects more than 7,300 stations.

Q: What is Herta's BioObserver?

A: BioObserver is an emotion detection system based on face biometrics developed by Herta.

Q: When did Indian Railways first announce plans to implement a biometric surveillance network?

A: Indian Railways first announced plans to implement a biometric surveillance network in 2022.

Q: Who was initially responsible for installing the biometric surveillance system?

A: Rail Tel, a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the Ministry of Railways, was initially responsible for installing the biometric surveillance system.