AC coaches to have better fire detection system

Railways will install improved Automatic Fire and Smoke Detection System in air-conditioned (AC) coaches.

The system is capable of checking and giving alarm to passenger during initial stages of a fire, thereby providing them valuable time to shift to safe areas, said the ministry on Wednesday.

The system is suitable for controlled environment, so it can be installed in  AC coaches only.

There are four alarm levels — called Alert, Action, Fire-1 and Fire-2. In order of the severity of the fire, as determined by the staff, the passengers can be taken to safety accordingly.

The Research Design & Standards Organisation (RDSO), the research wing of the Ministry of Railways, improved it and made provision for interfacing the system with the air-brake system of the coaches so that in the event of a Fire-2 alarm, the train stops before the hooter is sounded.

It will ensure that passenger can safely de-board without panic.

The automatic fire and smoke detection system is based on the Very Early Warning Smoke Detection System (VEWDS) strategy to detect smoke or fire at an incipient stage through continuous multipoint sampling and analysis of the coach environment.

The system has been  tried  on the Bhubaneswar Rajdhani. During the trial period, two actual fire incidents were detected by the system in two coaches, and timely warning saved loss of life and property. The Rail Coach Factory has recently installed this system on one more rake of the Rajdhani; it will be used in the Ranchi Rajdhani.
The system is also planned to be fitted on more rakes in the current year.