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Key Points

The Digital India Bhashini Division and Centre for Railway Information Systems have launched a groundbreaking collaboration to introduce multilingual AI solutions across railway platforms. Their partnership will enable passengers to access critical railway services in 22 Indian languages using advanced speech recognition and translation technologies. This initiative represents a significant step towards making digital services more inclusive and accessible for millions of Indians. The collaboration aligns with the Digital India vision and showcases India's emerging leadership in language AI for public digital infrastructure.

Key Points: Bhashini CRIS Launches AI Multilingual Railway Services

  • Bhashini AI technology integrated into National Train Enquiry System
  • Multilingual support across 22 Indian languages
  • Advanced speech and translation capabilities
  • Enhancing railway digital infrastructure accessibility
2 min read

Bhashini, CRIS to build multilingual AI solutions for Indian Railways

Bhashini and CRIS partner to transform Indian Railways digital platforms with AI-powered multilingual solutions across 22 languages

"Language is no longer a barrier to accessing vital public services - Amitabh Nag, Bhashini CEO"

New Delhi, June 9

The Digital India Bhashini Division (DIBD) and the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) on Monday collaborated on the development and deployment of multilingual artificial intelligence solutions across key public-facing railway platforms.

The partnership aims to integrate Bhashini’s state-of-the-art language technology stack, comprising Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), Text-to-Text Translation, Text-to-Speech (TTS), and Optical Character Recognition (OCR), into CRIS-managed systems such as the National Train Enquiry System (NTES) and RailMadad.

This will enable citizens to access critical railway services in 22 Indian languages.

“This collaboration will transform how millions of passengers engage with railway services daily. Through Bhashini’s AI capabilities, we are ensuring that language is no longer a barrier to accessing vital public services,” said Amitabh Nag, CEO, Bhashini.

The partnership will also focus on co-developing chatbots and voice assistants for multilingual passenger support, developing multilingual over-the-counter interfaces for railway enquiry setups, scaling Bhashini-powered services through cloud and on-premise infrastructure, deploying these capabilities across websites, mobile apps, kiosks, and call centres, and enabling real-time, speech-based interaction in multiple Indian languages.

A series of joint technical workshops and pilot deployments are scheduled to commence in the coming months.

“CRIS is proud to partner with Bhashini to implement inclusive, AI-powered solutions across our digital platforms. This will enhance accessibility, transparency, and efficiency in our passenger-facing services,” said G.V.L. Satya Kumar, Managing Director, CRIS.

This MoU marks a major milestone under the vision of Digital India and further strengthens India’s position as a global leader in language AI for public digital infrastructure, said Ministry of Electronics and IT.

Last month, India AI Mission, under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), announced a collaboration with Intel India to advance Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities and skilling.

The collaboration will focus on key programmes including YuvaAI empowers (for school students); StartupAI (for startups); and IndiaAI Dialogues (for public sector leaders and policy practitioners). It will also enable Bhashini to scale to remote classrooms across India on AI.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

R
Rajesh K.
Finally! This is a game-changer for millions of Indians who struggle with English/Hindi at railway stations. My mother will be so relieved when she can ask about train timings in Telugu. Hope they implement it quickly at all stations. 🇮🇳
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Priya M.
Great initiative but I hope they test it thoroughly before full rollout. We've seen how glitchy some government apps can be. The AI should understand regional accents properly - my Bhojpuri speaking grandfather's queries often get misinterpreted by existing systems.
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Arjun S.
Make in India + Digital India coming together beautifully! This is how technology should serve Bharat. Next step - integrate this with UPI so even ticket booking becomes language-agnostic. Kudos to the teams working on this project 👏
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Sunita R.
As someone who travels frequently by train, I'm excited but skeptical. Will the voice assistants work in noisy station environments? Also hope they include all 22 scheduled languages equally - sometimes Northeastern languages get less attention.
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Vikram J.
The YuvaAI program for schools is what excites me most! Imagine rural students learning AI concepts in their mother tongue. This could bridge the urban-rural education gap. Hope they allocate proper budgets for implementation in village schools.
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Neha P.
While I appreciate the multilingual focus, I hope they don't neglect improving basic railway services. Clean toilets and punctual trains matter more than fancy AI for most passengers. Both should be priority.

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