Railways using advance technology to prevent train accidents

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : Indian Railways (IR) has taken proactive measures to ensure safety and to prevent accidents at unmanned level crossings. They include elimination of unmanned level crossings through closure/merger/grade-separator/ manning etc. All unmanned level crossings on Broad Gauge have now been eliminated except 28 UMLCs, which have also been planned to be eliminated by closure, merger, subway and manning. SMS-based campaigns to create awareness amongst road users.

Technology upgradation has been adopted by the Railways to prevent rail accidents and to enhance safety in railway operation. Fog Pass Devices have been provided on locomotives in fog prone areas. This is a portable equipment issued to Loco Pilots while working trains during fog season, which guides Loco Pilot about incoming signal location.  All Locos are provided with Vigilance Control Devices for checking alertness of Loco Pilots.

Remote Monitoring and Management of Locomotives and Trains enables remote monitoring of Diesel Locomotives and focused counselling and training of such crew, who are prone to unsafe working. It also monitors condition of locomotive and makes preventive maintenance of locomotives. This system is already running on about 3,520 locomotives and 113 DEMUs.

Heating, Ventilation and Air conditioning of locomotive Cabs (HVACs) : Improvement in the working conditions of loco crew is a priority area for Indian Railways.  Provision of AC in loco cab will reduce fatigue level on run and will make working environment of crew better and improve their efficiency. Better working condition will also improve the alertness level of the loco pilots. So far, 895 diesel locos have been equipped with HVACs.

Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) type coaches, which are of a superior design having better safety features like anti-climbing, etc., are being proliferated in main line trains. Several fire safety measures like provision of Smoke Detection System in Air Condition coaches, Fire Detection and Suppression System in Power car and Pantry car and availability of Fire Extinguishers in Non-AC coaches have been initiated.

To automatically identify the defective wheels in rolling stock by measuring the impact of wheels on track, 15 Wheel Impact Load Detectors (WILDs) are operational in Indian Railways.  Further, purchase order has been placed for another advanced system called Online Monitoring of Rolling Stock (OMRS) which monitors defective bearing, wheel flats and generate defect reports on real time basis.  Two such systems are operational and two more systems are under installation. Hot Box Detectors are being tried across Railways’ network to mitigate en-route detachment and avoid serious repercussion on the operation of trains. Long Rail panels are being used on track to minimize welded joints.

This information was given by the Government in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, according to a PIB release.