Pune: Indian Railways signed a MoU with RailTel Enterprises Limited (REL), a wholly owned subsidiary company of RailTel Corporation of India Ltd, for the work of modernisation of signalling system on four sections, which includes Automatic Train Protection System (ATP) with Long Term Evolution (LTE) based Mobile Train Radio Communication System (MTRC) together with provision of Electronic Interlocking (indoor) wherever required.
The MoU was signed by Pradeep M Sikdar, ED/Signal Development, Railway Board, Ministry of Railways and AK Sablania, Director & CEO, M/s REL in presence of N Kashinath, Member/S&T, Railway Board and Puneet Chawla, CMD/RailTel.
Chief Public Relations Officer of Central Railway Sunil Udasi said that this project of Modern Train Control System (MTCS) will be implemented on 175 RKMs on Nagpur - Badnera section on Central Railway, 165 RKMs on Renigunta - Yerraguntla section on South Central Railway, 145 RKMs on Vizianagaram - Palasa section on East Coast Railway and 155 RKMs on Jhansi - Bina section on North Central Railway. These are some of the busiest routes on the Indian Railways.
The Automatic Train Protection System and LTE-based MRTC will improve safety, help reduce congestion, increase line capacity and improve punctuality. It will also help to increase the average speed of trains. The MTCS will be as per Open Standard, Interoperable with Multi-vendor support. MTRC System will be deployed using LTE backbone for communication between train running staff, drivers, guards and control office. This system will also be used for working of ATP System. Initially, this system will be provided on 500 locomotives.
Kashinath said that there is a need to implement MTCS to keep pace with modern signalling and communication systems being used all around the world, to ensure the safety of the passengers and increase line capacity to match with the challenges of running more trains on existing track.
Puneet Chawla said that RailTel team is already on the job and has already taken inputs and feedback from industry representatives with respect to technology, interfaces, compatibility and interoperability of various sub-systems. Based on these inputs from all stakeholders, a blueprint for speedy execution of the pilot project is ready for implementation.
The pilot project, at an estimated cost of Rs. 1,609 crore, is to be completed in 24 months. Modern Train Control System based on LTE-based MTRC is one of the most ambitious modernisation projects of Indian Railways, which envisages upgradation of signalling system at par with the world standards.
Once this pilot project is implemented successfully, Indian Railways proposes to implement the same on important high density routes of the railway network.
