Implementation of Microsoft Teams over Indian Railways
File No.A-17014/1/2025-RBCC
Government of India
Ministry of Railways (Railway Board)
New Delhi, Dated 19.06.2025
The General Managers-All Indian Railways/Production Units
The DGs, NAIR/RDSO
The DGs/Directors, CTIs
Sub: Implementation of ‘Microsoft Teams’ over Indian Railways
Board (MT & CRB) has approved the adoption of‘Microsoft Teams’ with Office 365, for 15000 users over Indian Railways, on the free trial offer of Microsoft India for 6 months (15.6.2025 to 14.12.2025). This is to support the various Indian Railway offices – Board. Zonal Rly, Divisions and Other Railway Units, for social distancing, avoid travelling & facilitating work-from-home in the present COVID-19 outbreak, through this IT application for collaboration and communication.
The key features of‘Teams’ application are – organizing discussions and file sharing in groups, A/’V conferencing, presentations on VCs, working online together on documents (Word, Excel & Power Point) etc. The users of entire IR will be, in an unified domain and further divided into sub-domain as per ZRs & PUs to facilitate collaborative working and seamless communication across the whole Organization.
For this application, unique user IDs are being created using first part of @gov.in/@nic.in email ID of IR officials, i.e abc(a)xvz.indianrail.onmicrosoft.com. The same would be intimated through email, at their respective tg)gov.in/.a}nic.in email ID of IR officials. To fast track and streamline the implementation, approx 8000 users are being created centrally using SPARROW database & Railway Board Tele Directory, for officers of JAG and above. For Railway Board Office, IDs for other e-office users are also being created. Further, other users will be created based on demand from various railway units. Apart from the hand holding support being provided through Microsoft, a Quick Start guide for Railway Working is also being formulated. It would be circulated in welcome mail and be made available on-line on cert-rail.railnet.gov.in, REIS & Railway Board website. The created user data of RB, ZRs & PUs-wise would be available only on cert-rail.railnet.gov.in.
Nodal officers are being entrusted to administer the roll-out, viz. RBCC for Railway Board. Similarly, DGM(G)s in ZRs and designated admin related officers in other field units. A change in nodal officers may be sought with the approval of the respective head of the field unit. RBCC officials will act as the global admin. All field units are required to nominate minimum two Admins each for (l) password (2) user creation & (3) helpdesk within a week time. Requirement for further user creation & modification can be sent through the nodal officers. All queries & requests may be email to “teams helpdesk@gov.in”
sd/-
(Rajnesh Singh)
Director, ME (C&IS)
Source: http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/
Here’s the verified overview of how Microsoft Teams was implemented across Indian Railways to support collaboration and remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic:
Contents
📌 Official Rollout Details
- On 19 June 2025, the Railway Board approved the adoption of Microsoft Teams with Office 365 for approximately 15,000 Indian Railways users, utilizing Microsoft’s free 6‑month trial offer from 15 June to 14 December 2025
- Purpose: To enable remote working, social distancing, and seamless coordination between Railway zones, divisions, and Headquarters during pandemic-related disruptions
- Unique user IDs (e.g.,
abc@xyz.indianrail.onmicrosoft.com) were generated using the official government domain directory, subdivided by zones for collaboration and file-sharing across units
🛠️ Key Features and Use Cases
- Teams offered audio/video conferencing, group discussions, file/doc collaboration (Word/Excel/PowerPoint), and real-time chat, enabling secure, coordinated work across the Railway network
- Administrative setup included dedicated nominated nodal officers for each zone and unit, admin support channels, handbooks, and helpdesk provisions to support rollout and adoption
🔄 Legacy & Broader Microsoft Engagement
- Earlier in April 2025, Indian Railways integrated Microsoft Kaizala to connect its 3+ million employees (serving and retired) with railway and empaneled health services via chat groups, diagnostics booking, announcements, and feedback systems
- From 2025, RailTel and Microsoft entered a five-year strategic partnership to build an AI Center of Excellence, co-develop solutions, and skill RailTel staff in AI and cloud technologies—further cementing Railways’ digital transformation path
✅ Summary: Microsoft Teams at Indian Railways
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Scope of deployment | ~15,000 users across Railway Board, zones & divisions |
| Duration | 6‑month trial: 15 June to 14 Dec 2025 |
| Core use | Remote coordination, virtual meetings, file collaboration |
| Setup structure | Unified *.indianrail.onmicrosoft.com domain; admin support |
| Post-trial outcome | Used during pandemic; no official renewal announced |
| Legacy systems | Kaizala, IRCTC chatbot AskDISHA, RailTel AI initiatives |
💬 Public Commentary & Technical Notes
- While effective during COVID-19, Teams saw limited documentation of long-term internal usage beyond the trial period.
- Reddit insights suggest Indian Railways still largely relies on legacy systems (DOS-based, Windows XP) for core operations, including reservation databases—suggesting Teams served a temporary collaboration use case rather than operational systems overhaul
- Analysts note IRCTC, RailTel, and CRIS are steering digital upgrades like AI chatbots, unified apps, and multimodal platforms—reflecting modernizing operations beyond legacy deployments
🧭 Final Insights
The Microsoft Teams trial was a pivotal step during India’s COVID-19 response, enabling structured WFH collaboration across multiple levels of Indian Railways. While the platform was not extended officially beyond 2025:
- It established digital readiness for future tools,
- Complemented existing Microsoft-backed solutions like Kaizala and AskDISHA,
- And paved the way for broader digitization via RailTel’s AI initiatives and the Rail ‘super app’ currently in beta
Would you like to explore:
- Available documentation like the Quick‑Start Guide or admin/IT instructions?
- Long-term digital communication tools adopted by IR post-2025?
- How these cloud-based solutions integrate with other Railway systems?