Now, movies on local trains

Central Railway plans to screen films, news on the recently installed LCD screens on its trains

Bollywood may soon make its presence felt in the city's most crowded spaces, the locals. That is what the Central Railway has in mind for making the travel hours for its commuters seem like a trip to the movies.



After installing LCD screens in its trains, the Central Railway (CR) is planning to exploit their full potential by playing pictures on them to, in the words of a senior official, "make the long hours of train travel more entertaining and informative".

The first train the CR ran with LCDs was on January 26 earlier this year.

Currently, the screens play public service advertisements and railway-related information. "At present, we are showing advertisements and informative messages about the railway.

But we are in talks with the same agency that installed the screens to start showing Hindi films," said the railway official, unwilling to be identified.

The movies are meant to alleviate the drudgery of long hours of commuting to the far suburbs. "We can run the movies in trains like CST-Karjat-Khopoli, CST-Kasara, Kurla-Panvel and so on.
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We can either play one movie on a loop the whole day, or set a playlist for the day," the official said.

The LCD screens are a regular feature in long-distance trains from Mumbai like Mumbai-Ahmedabad Shatabdi Express and Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani Express.

And while they are at it, railway officials want to make the whole deal a bit newsy for commuters. "We are also planning to use technology to telecast some news channel on the LCD screens.

This may take little time but work is in the process," the official added. The current programming plan includes the railway timetable.

But what's in it for them? Every train with the LCDs will fetch the railway about Rs 6.4 lakh from the ads aired on it.

Playing safe

Back when officials were deciding on the installations of the screens, the telecast of programs was a major discussion point, second only to their safety.
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"The screens will be fitted in damage-proof housing to safeguard them against theft. The agency installing the screens will be allowed to telecast selective programs approved by us," said the official.

The only thing to show caution with is the copyright of movies. "The copyright issue of the films has come up during discussions.
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We are planning to buy about 20 movies (initially) and they can be played in rotation," the official said.

Moreover, to avoid offending commuters' sensibilities, as had happened the last time when the railways started airing ads (see box), officials say they will pre-approve all the content shown in the trains.


To alleviate the drudgery of long hours of commuting to the far suburbs, the Central Railway plans to show Bollywood movies on the LCD in the trains

"We will keep the volume low initially, but if commuters demand, it can be increased later. The programs will be telecast only after our approval to do away with any vulgar ads or programming," the official said.

However, the spokesperson of CR showed reserve in confirming any such development. V A Malegaonkar, Chief Public Relations Officer, said, "As of now there are no such plans.

We will be showing informative programs in the local trains."

Uncensored

The first LCD screens were installed by Western Railway in 2009, just in one rake for nine months.
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The railway discontinued the service because passengers could neither hear nor see the screen clearly. Secondly, the agency couldn't get the money it had expected from the ads.

And most importantly, because the few ads aired were found to be objectionable by people for public telecast.
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As reported by u00a0MiD DAY, commuters had got enraged over a lingerie ad shown on the screens in a Churchgate-bound train ('Lingerie in the local', February 1, 2009).

2009
The first LCD screens were installed in one rake of the WR for nine months. They were removed after commuters found some of the ads vulgar

Rs 6.4 lakh
The revenue Central Railway can expect to earn from each train with LCDs, from the advertisements aired on it