Railways to replace walkie talkie with mobile system

new delhi — To ensure safety of passengers in view of ongoing efforts to increase speed of trains, Indian Railways has decided to install sophisticated communication system in place of existing walkie talkie system for unhindered contact between the driver and ground staff.

“We are implementing Mobile Train Radio Communication (MTRC) system which would provide better communication between the control room and the driver in speeding trains,” said a senior Railway Ministry official involved with the project.

The system will provide control rooms with emergency brake for trains which can be used in case of signal violation by drivers.

While the MRTC system is currently being installed in the 2,264km route including Delhi-Ludhiana, Howrah-Mughalsarai and Kolkata Metro sections, 2,235km-long route including the New Delhi-Howrah and New Delhi-Jammu will be equipped with the modern communication system by March next year.

“The MTRC system is being introduced in high density routes to strengthen the safety aspect in train movement as it enables the driver to communicate with the guard and also with station master, control officers and other officials responsible for train operations,” the official said.

It will replace the existing walkie talkie system, which is not much reliable when the train is running at a high speed, he added. “Voice becomes inaudible in high speed trains. Communication also gets blocked if the train negotiates a curve,” he said.

The upcoming dedicated freight corridor (DFC) will also be equipped with the MRTC.

The 1,465km long JN Port Trust-Dadri route in the Western DFC and 626km long Ludhiana-Mughalsarai in the Eastern DFC will have the system in the first phase, the official said, adding, “freight trains are expected to run at higher speed in the corridor.”

It would cost about Rs800,000 per km to install MTRC system on the rail route. —