Railways opt for European tech to prevent train collisions
Indian Railways have decided to adopt a European technology in certain busy routes to prevent rail accidents.
“We are installing the Train Protection Warning System (TPWS) in 828-km rail route as a preventive measure against collisions,” said a senior Railway Ministry official.
TPWS, a state-of-the-art European technology, is estimated to cost Rs 70 lakh per km.
“If the train jumps the red signal then brakes will be applied automatically under the system,” the official said, adding a “majority of the recent accidents were due to trains jumping red signals in foggy conditions.”
The total cost for installing the TPWS would be about Rs 579.6 crore and the work will be awarded through tendering system.
“We are finalising the tendering process,” he said.
TPWS would be implemented in North Central, South East,Eastern and Western zones.
Earlier, the TPWS was implemented in a suburban section in Chennai and the Delhi-Mathura non-suburban section on a pilot basis.
The trial was satisfactory and now the system would be extended to other zones, the official said.
Railways are also developing “crash worthy” coaches and locomotives and will provide automatic fire and smoke detection system in 20 pairs of long-distance trains on an experimental basis.
“As far as accidents at unmanned level crossings are concerned, we are launching a special drive to man all
crossings in a phased manner,” the official said.
There are about 17,000 unmanned level crossings across the country. While the work for 3,000 unmanned level crossings started in 2009-10, that for another 1,000 crossings are being taken up in the current fiscal.
Besides TPWS, railways are installing anti-collision device in certain sections to prevent accidents.
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