Pakistan Railways has devised indigenous information technology solution for avoiding train accidents under which the train approaching warning system at level crossings has been finalized and five prototypes will be installed by end-2017 to check the new signalling system.
Chairperson Ministry of Railways Parveen Agha was briefed about the train approaching warning system at level crossings and train collision avoiding system (TCAS) here on Wednesday. The purpose of the briefing was to find out IT and indigenous solutions for controlling accidents. It was told that TAWC has been finalized and five prototypes will be installed at busy points till December 2017 to check the new signalling system.
TAWC will consist of sensors on both sides of level crossing at the distance of almost 3 kilometres. Sensors will detect the movement of train. There are dual sensors which will provide redundancy and compensation for variation in depth. Sirens will also be installed to alert the pedestrians or vehicles. This setup is 2 watt solar-powered and will be wireless. The clearance to passer-by will only be given after the train passed. But this system will not supersede the responsibility of locomotive drivers and gatemen.
This system will provide audio visual warning signals to vehicles and pedestrian. There will be 7 inch high brightness display for driver's information. Video of crossing with reasonable resolution will also be provided to locomotive drivers when train is 3 kilometres away. The system should maintain alarm and video log in addition to event log for period of 15 days. The system should provide HD video in driver's cabin system. The frequency will be 433 MHz.
Another system TCAS is also been briefed. This system will avoid the risk of collision of trains due to human error and equipment failure. This system will act as a watchdog in this system and radars will be used in trains so that trains can identify each other. It is a GPS-based system, which will tell the drivers about the time, location, speed and course of travel of the approaching trains that can collide. It will be fitted in locomotives and brake vans. As a result there will be long range wireless communication between units. There will be warning lights.
Both these systems are evolving. For usage of these systems trainings will be given to drivers. It was decided in the meeting that media will be engaged in order to give awareness to public about TAWC. Sources revealed there were over 2,000 unmanned level crossings and out of them 550 were vulnerable and 143 were the most vulnerable unmanned level crossings.
The Railways Ministry has estimated Rs 25 billion for up-gradation of such vulnerable points. Sources further said that signal system at the Main Line (ML-1) would be upgraded under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) framework. The Railways has also proposed to construct underpasses and flyovers at vulnerable level crossing on built-operate-transfer (BOT) basis with the help of private sector.
According to Railways Ministry data, 184 train accidents occurred at manned/unmanned level crossings during 2014-16, where 100 persons were killed and over 120 got injured. Anjum Parvez, Advisor Hamayun Rashid, AGMI Munawar Shah, DG Technical, Ambreen Zaman, Chief Electrical Engineer Abdul Malik, DS Rawalpindi Division, CEN Open Lines, COPS, chief mechanical engineer locomotives and chief signal engineer were also present in the briefing.