Railways deploys safety system to prevent mishaps

Plugging a gaping hole in its safety mechanism, the Railways has begun deploying the Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS),  which would regulate the train’s movement to prevent accidents.

The protection technology from Europe would monitor the train’s speed and automatically apply the breaks if it exceeds the speed limits.

“If a train jumped the signal, approached the signal too fast, or approached the buffer stops too fast, the TPWS would put the breaks and bring the train to a standstill,” a Railway official said, adding that the system would prevent accidents taking place due to the loco pilot’s error in passing on the signals.

The official also pointed out that the trains would be in constant communication with each other through sensors installed on the trackside.

In the next three to four years, the Railways has plans to introduce the new system in two phases over a stretch of 3,330 km.

It had successfully piloted the system in the Chennai-Gummidipundi suburban section, Dum Dum-Kavi Subhash section of the Kolkata Metro rail, and Hazrat Nizamuddin-Agra and Basin Bridge-Arrakonam sections.