In a landmark development, the Digital India Bhashini Division (DIBD) and the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop and deploy multilingual artificial intelligence solutions across key public-facing railway platforms. Under the agreement, 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), will be integrated with Indian Railways' CRIS-managed systems such as the National Train Enquiry System (NTES) and RailMadad.

The step is all set to mark a milestone in linguistic inclusion and AI-driven digital transformation in the Indian Railways. It is all set to enable the citizens to avail themselves of the convenience of systems and AI-powered solutions without hassles in 22 languages. 

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No Barriers 

The MoU was formally signed by Shri Amitabh Nag, CEO, BHASHINI, and Shri G.V.L. Satya Kumar, Managing Director, CRIS, in New Delhi. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Amitabh Nag, CEO of BHASHINI, said, “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.”

Enhanced Accessibility 

Shri G.V.L. Satya Kumar, Managing Director, CRIS, said, “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.”

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Beyond Traditional Solutions 

Beyond the traditional solutions, the partnership will also prioritize the co-development of chatbots and voice assistants to offer multilingual support for passengers. Key initiatives include building multilingual interfaces for over-the-counter railway inquiry systems, expanding BHASHINI-powered services via both cloud and on-premise infrastructure, and deploying these capabilities across websites, mobile apps, kiosks, and call centers. 

Leap in Public Digital Infrastructure 

As the collaboration enables real-time, speech-based interactions in multiple Indian languages, it is all set to facilitate a leap in India’s tryst with the digital public infrastructures, especially the Indian Railways. The collaboration would mark a major milestone under the vision of Digital India and further strengthen India’s position as a global leader in language AI for public digital infrastructure.