Railways Adopt AI For Multilingual Passenger Services

10 Jun 2025 CW Team

In a significant move towards digital transformation and linguistic inclusion, the Digital India Bhashini Division (DIBD) and the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to integrate advanced multilingual artificial intelligence solutions across public-facing railway services.

The agreement was signed in New Delhi by Shri Amitabh Nag, CEO of BHASHINI, and Shri G.V.L. Satya Kumar, Managing Director of CRIS. The collaboration will embed BHASHINI’s cutting-edge language technology suite — including Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), Text-to-Text Translation, Text-to-Speech (TTS), and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) — into key CRIS-managed systems such as the National Train Enquiry System (NTES) and RailMadad.

The initiative will enable passengers across India to access railway services in 22 Indian languages, making travel information more inclusive and accessible. It aims to eliminate language barriers by deploying AI-powered solutions on websites, mobile apps, kiosks, call centres, and enquiry counters.

Speaking at the signing, Shri Amitabh Nag stated, “This collaboration will transform how millions of passengers interact with railway services. With BHASHINI’s AI capabilities, language will no longer be an obstacle in accessing essential public services.”

CRIS Managing Director Shri G.V.L. Satya Kumar added, “We are proud to partner with BHASHINI in building inclusive digital platforms that improve accessibility, transparency, and efficiency.”

Beyond language support, the partnership includes the joint development of multilingual chatbots and voice assistants, scaling deployment through both cloud and on-premise infrastructure, and initiating pilot programmes and technical workshops over the coming months.

This agreement forms a key milestone under the Digital India vision and positions India as a pioneer in leveraging AI for multilingual public digital infrastructure.

Infrastructure Urban

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