Soon, advanced fire detection system in top trains

Premier trains like Rajdhani and upcoming Tejas Express will soon have an advanced multilevel fire detection and response system.

All Humsafer trains would also be equipped with the new system. The central monitoring system (CMS) will be installed in the power car.

Once the new system is installed, a train will stop automatically in case of a fire as brakes will be applied the moment smoke rises beyond the certain level. This will be followed by an announcement and hooter sirens in the affected coach. The Railways will also equip all air-conditioned coaches used for overnight journey with the early warning fire detection system. All power cars, pantry cars, locomotives of special services would also be equipped with high-pressure, water-mist fire suppression systems to protect the expensive equipment from being burnt in case of a fire, official sources said.

Senior Railways officials said early warning of a fire event can prevent panic and loss of life and damage to assets, minimising disruption of services. In conventional smoke detection systems, the response time is slow, prealarms are too late, detection rate in high airflows is poor, and performance gets affected by soot and dust.

The fire detection system in all coaches will be connected by hardwire to the central monitoring system in the power cars where technical personnel are present.

The system is designed for multi-level alarm, which is being programmed as per the requirements.

In case smoke level rises in a coach, the flasher light gets activated at the CMS to alert the technical staff and indicates the coach number, which may be affected.

Thereafter, technical staff will investigate if there is actually a case of potential fire in that particular coach.

If the smoke level rises up to level 2, the flasher light gets activated in the affected coach and an audio visual alarm (hooter and flasher light) at the central monitoring system prompts technical staff to take necessary action.

If the smoke level rises to 3, the brake application takes place automatically. An announcement followed by hooter takes place in the affected coach after a delay of 55 seconds.