RailEnquiry

BHUBANESWAR: In order to meet the demand of electricity consumption to operate railway signals, the East Coast Railway (ECoR) has hit upon an idea to generate electricity by installing solar panels at the 47 railway stations under Sambalpur division. The identified railway stations still do not have tracks run by electricity, said sources. The ECoR sources said this is part of the massive modernization drive being undertaken for streamlining the signal system. "We were depending on diesel generators or local electricity to operate the signals in railway stations under Sambalpur railway division. But we were facing difficulties to ensure uninterrupted electric supply by using the generators," said S H Safdar, the chief signal and telecom manager of ECoR. He said solar panels are expected to compensate the shortfall of electricity supply to the signal channels. The railway is also planning to install Electronic Gate Technology (EGT) at stations where there are more than four level crossings. This will enable all level crossings to record information of train movements at a time. Earlier, at a time only one LC point could be informed about the movement of a train.

"EGT functions like a cockpit voice recorder. It can record the communication between the station master and the gateman at the level crossing. It can keep the message of all incoming and outgoing trains stored so that there is no confusion later in case of a mishap," said an ECoR spokesperson.

Similarly, the Data Logger Networking (DLN) has been developed by ECoR to monitor the incidences related to signal failure. This device will be installed at the zonal and divisional control rooms.

"This device can help generate input related to signals automatically through management information system (MIS), enabled in the device. Anybody manning the signal system can generate an alert through MIS," said an ECoR official. This device has been created to check frequent manipulations occurring at the railway signals.

Also, the ECoR has developed an SMS alert system at the signal points to help all officials engaged in signal under a division to know about any human intervention into signal machineries. "Once the signal apparatuses are operated by the individuals in charge of operation of the signals, SMS will automatically be generated. The messages will reach the higher officials for further action," said an official.