Western Railway gets ATC type communication system, commuters to get real-time info on trains

In a path-breaking technology initiative, the Western Railways (WR), in the Mumbai suburban section, has commissioned a Mobile Train Radio Communication (MTRC) which is modelled on the lines of Air Traffic Control (ATC).

The system is operational in the Churchgate-Virar section of the suburban network in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

This modern state-of-the-art technology system is a first-of-its-kind in the Indian Railways, which will enable several possibilities of communication between the crew of EMU trains with the Control Centre as well as enable broadcast call by Control to passengers and also between all EMU cabs.

The system was commissioned on Monday by WR’s General Manager Alok Kansal.

According to him, MTRC is an effective and technologically advanced communication system that can play an intrinsic role in preventing train accidents through effective communication.

It facilitates an instant and constant interaction of train crew with the Control Centre and the station master.

“This system uses the lowest time to connect calls i.e 300 milliseconds and it is the first time that MTRC has been commissioned in India. It is a historic move for Indian Railways. MRTC acts in a similar way to that of ATC for aircraft. The system will monitor, track and aid in communication between the trains and the control room thereby ensuring smooth movement of rakes as well as help in preventing adverse events,” said Kansal.

WR’s Chief Public Relations Officer Sumit Thakur said that the Churchgate-Virar section (60 km) of Mumbai suburban section is a high-density traffic route where trains run with a headway of approximately three minutes in peak hours.

Presently, this section has a capacity to transport over 3.4 million passengers every day by operating over 1,300 services each day.

The earlier existing conventional VHF-based communication system, Mobile and CUG had their limitations and does not give the facility for communication between the crew of the running train and the controllers operating from the control centre at Mumbai.

“This system will also help in getting real-time information of train operation during the monsoon period,” he said.

Thakur stated that the provision of the new Digital MTRC system was sanctioned at the cost of Rs 5.98 crore with two years warranty and five years Annual Maintenance Charges (AMC).

The MTRC System is TETRA (Terrestrial Trunk Radio) based digital technology employing TDMA on Air Interface and Internet Protocol-based Network Architecture with Distributed Switching Architecture.