Indian Railways’ PSU RailTel is implementing modern signalling projects worth an amount of Rs 224 crore on Northern Railways of replacing obsolete mechanical signalling by an Electronic Interlocking system. It covers as many as 26 stations- three in Delhi division, nine in Ambala Division and 14 in Firozpur division. This state-of-the-art modern technology is said to enhance the safety and efficiency of train operations. So far, according to Northern Railways, Rs 65 crore of revenue has been booked already and revenue of Rs 105 crore will be booked in the financial year 2022-23 and remaining in fiscal 2023-24. This change of system in the Indian Railways network will enhance safety and operational efficiency. Additionally, this new system will facilitate trains to run at higher speed of 110 Km per hour from the present lower speed of 50 km per hour.
The state-of-the-art Electronic Interlocking Signalling System, according to the Northern Railway, will enable all operations by Station Master for movement of trains such as signal clearance as well as setting routes by the click of a mouse on the computer in his office and offers a live view of train running in the station yard. The system enables automatic verification of last vehicle clearance as well as facilitates monitoring and fault diagnostics on a computer.
According to Puneet Chawla, Chairman and Managing Director of RailTel, the PSU is a trusted telecom and signaling arm of the national transporter. For enhancing safety and efficiency of train services, it is important to replace age old obsolete mechanical signalling system by Modern Electronic Interlocking System, he said. This replacement exercise on Indian Railways is a continuous process and the PSU is playing a crucial role in this system replacement exercise. Besides, RailTel intends to play a significant role in modernizing Train Control System through the execution of KAVACH, which is an indigenously developed ATP System. This is proposed to be implemented over LTE based High Speed Mobile Communication Corridor for the Indian Railways network, Chawla added.
