MALUR

Honble Minister of State for Railways, Shri. Suresh Angadi today inaugurated a host of “Innovations/Technology adoptions by Signalling &Telecommunication(S&T) Department, Southern Railway, viz.,

·“RailMitra- A Covid Warrior” & “Solid State Automatic Signalling System” developed by S&T workshop, Podanur.

·New Installations of “Siemens EI (Electronic Interlocking) System & “Online Examination Module” in S&T Training Centre, Podanur.

·High availability Short-haul Circuit with SDH(Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) in Salem-Omalur section&Implementation of IP/MPLS(Internet Protocol/ Multiprotocol Label Switching) in Arakkonam-Tiruttani Section

·Laying of OFC Cable using Blown Fibre Technology” for the first time in Indian Railways

Ø“RailMitra- A Covid Warrior”:It is microprocessor based robot which will avoid direct contact with the covid patients by Serving them the essential treatment medicines, food and water etc., It has sensor based automatic sanitizer dispenser,contactless body temperature measuring system,facility for the collection of used plates, bottles, masks etc. from the patients into its UV chamber, facilitate video interacting and communication with patients through the IP camera and microphone.

Ø“Solid State Automatic Signalling System”:It is modern Micro controller based automatic signaling system.It will make faster installlation of  automatic signalling system & improve the reliability.

Ø“Siemens EI system installation in Training Centre”:  will facilitate the hands o­n training o­n the latest Electronic Interlocking.

Ø“Online Examination”:It will enable the conducting of mandatory examination of safety courses even in the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic without physical presence of the candidates.

Ø“High availability Short-haul Circuit with SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) in Salem-Omalur section & Implementation of IP/MPLS(Internet Protocol/ Multiprotocol Label Switching) in Arakkonam-Tiruttani Section: It will improve the reliability of the of the communication system in Salem-Omalur section with improved protection.

Ø“Adoption of Blown Fibre Technology” It will improve performance of the optical fibre communication & will reduce installation cost..

The inaugural programme was followed by an International Seminar o­n “Challenges and Solutions inadopting emerging Technologies in Railway Signaling& Telecommunications” under the aegis of IRSTE (Institute of Railway Signal & Telecommunication) Southern Railway chaptertoday. The webinar was webcast live o­n the internet for the benefit of a wider audience.

Shri Pradeep Kumar/Member S&T/Railway Board participated in the webinar and addressed the virtual gathering from New Delhi. It covered all aspects of Signalling &Telecommunication subjects which are trending in the present scenario. He also shared that Railways has decided to use indigenous technologies as far as possible. He also mentioned as to how TCAS (Train Collision & Avoidance System) will make the journeys of passenger more safe. He also shared the information that Indian Railways has decided to go ahead with the installation of ETCS(European Train Control System) level -2 o­n the prototype sections.

Shri John Thomas, General Manager/Southern Railway participated in the Webinar and addressed the virtual gathering. Speaking o­n the occasion he lauded the Signal and Telecommunications Dept for the good work done by the Dept. He praised Railway Hospital ,Perambur for the excellent works being done by Doctors & Paramedical Staffs in treating Covid-19 patients. He was happy that Rail-Mitra Robot will help these Covid-19 warriors to keep themselves safe & healthy.

In his welcome address Shri R.Baskaran, Principal Chief Signal & Telecommunication Engineer said that he was happy that S&T workshop/Podanur could complete the production of Rail-Mitra Robot and Solid State Automatic Signalling system design in a record time of two months.He further brought out the salient features & the advantages of the new technologies which were inaugurated today.He stated that process of such innovations will continue further.

The webinar covered all the aspects of Signalling & Telecommunicationtechnologies. The subjects covered in the webinar were:-

·Indigenous Cab Signalling ATP System-TCAS”  by Shri. Lalit Mansukhani, Additional Divisional Railway Manager, Madurai,

·Way forward for implementing Traffic Management System / Centralised Traffic Control in Chennai Division” by Shri.D. Sunil, Chief Signal Engineer-II, S Rly

·Multi-section Digital Axle Counter” with inbuilt multiplexer – Benefits for AutoSignaling Application” by Shri. Rajganesh, Manager/R&D, M/s.GGTronics,

·“Importance and Criticality of o­n-Board Long Term Evolution (LTE) Modem” by Shri. David Rothbaum, M/s. Ericsson AB.    

·Implementation of IP-MPLS (IP Multi Protocol Label Switching)  based network over Southern Railway” by Shri.S.Selvadurai, Chief Communication Engineer/ S Rly

·Blown fibre technology” by Shri.Bill, Director, UK & Shri.Santosh Natarajan, M/s.Hayle Communications, Coimbatore, Coimbatore.

·Strategies for a robust, secure and manageable IoT (Internet of Things)  implementation for Predictive maintenance of Railway Signaling& Telecommunication Systems” by Shri.Take Aanstoot, Chief Technology officer, Modio AB, Sweden    

·“RailMitra” by Shri. P.V. Murali Krishna, Chief Workshop Manager, Podanur S&T Workshop

·“Solid state Automatic Signalling system” by Shri. P.V. Murali Krishna, Chief Workshop Manager, Podanur S&T Workshop & Shri. G. Gowrishankar, Head R&D Electronics, Vasantha Advance Systems, Coimbatore

·“Online Examination Module in Training centre/Podanur”  by Shri. P.V. Murali Krishna, Chief Workshop Manager, Podanur S&T Workshop & Shri. Yeshwanth Balakrishnan, Founder PAPERZ, Coimbatore

B. Guganesan

Chief Public Relations Officer

प्रेस विज्ञप्ति/ Press Release No. 152  Dt: 28.06.2020

SWR CARRIES 3.76 LAKH PASSENGERS IN 256 SHRAMIK SPECIAL TRAINS

Starting with the first Shramik Special Train which chugged out from the SWR o­n 4^th May 2020, South Western Railway has run 256 trains transporting 3.76 Lakh migrant workers to their native places/destinations up to 27^th June 2020.  While, SWR carried the first o­ne Lakh passengers in 13 days, the 2 Lakh passengers were moved in just 6 days. 2.5 Lakh passengers were carried in just 7 days, 3.0 Lakh passengers in another 7 days and 3.5 Lakh passengers in 16 days.

248 trains carrying 3.63 Lakh passengers left from Karnataka and 8 trains carrying 12,718 passengers left from Hosur in Tamilnadu, to the different parts of the country.

  As and when State Govt. advised, SWR has arranged for Shramik Special trains to all parts of country for the migrant workers to reach their hometowns. The route and stoppages also were advised by State Govt.

SWR has run Shramik Specials from KSR Bengaluru, Bengaluru Cant., Chikkabanavara, Malur, Ashokapuram, Kabakaputtur, Hassan, Hubballi, Hosapete, Ballari, Koppal  and Hosur in Tamil Nadu state wise from 03.05.2020 to 27.06.2020 is as below;

Bengaluru Division has run lion's share of Shramik specials - 223 so far ferrying 3.28 Lakhs passengers.  Hubballi Division has run 21 Shramik Special carrying 30,580 passengers and Mysuru Division has run 12 Shramik Specials ferrying 16,974 passengers.

SWR is transporting passengers to their destination as per the demand of State Government with proper protocol under advise to   State Government to be  ready to accept them after screening etc,.  Initially these special trains were being run from point to point with no stoppages en-route. Later so as to accommodate many passengers with different destinations with same / enroute State, stoppages were given as advised by State Government. Karnataka State Govt. is arranging to bring passengers of Shramik Special trains to the stations through BMTC Buses as per the protocol, after due process of registration.

Care is being taken to ensure social distancing, wearing of masks and sanitizing of hands and making regular announcement to caution the passengers for prevention and spread of Covid-19 virus before departure from stations. Hand Sanitizer along with liquid soap has been provided in all coaches to protect against spread of Covid-19 Virus.  Railway is also ensuring complete sanitization of all coaches before boarding of special train by the passengers.

Special Trains are departing the Stations o­nly after all the passengers are medically examined by Government of Karnataka and issued medical certificate.  Thermal screening is again done by Railway Medical Teams at the stations.  None of the passengers were detected with high temperature.   The Railway Protection Force (RPF) team is escorting the trains and ensuring social distancing. Details of passengers, coach-wise with address and mobile Nos. have been obtained.  Details have been digitalized and stored for contact tracing in future, if required.

In association with NGOs, Railways is supplying  three meals  right at the  boarding point.

1) Each food packet contains Ricebath, 4 chapati with pickle, 2 oranges, 2 o­ne litre water bottles, 2 roti with sabji, 1 pack Ricebath, 1 kara bun, 1 sweet bun, sponsored Labour department associated with WIPRO Azim premji and Mercy mission.

2) Second pack, 200ml water bottles 4no, 2 Maza tetra packets, 2 buns, 4 pineapple, 4 laddu, 1 mixer packet sponsored by NGO

The operations of "Khushi " and " Put the Smile back"  launched by Bengaluru Division where toys are distributed to the children of the migrant workers have been widely appreciated by all quarters.

Shri A.K. Singh, General Manager said that Railway has  been actively engaged in Shramik special - with Mission of reuniting stranded people with their families , was a mammoth o­ne and given the level of complexity in view of prevailing pandemic conditions , it was extremely challenging. He appreciated Divisional teams for managing all train operations smoothly. Shri Singh told that in case of any further requirement of Shramik specials is received from State Govt., same will be arranged  within 12 -16 hours.

                                                                                           Chief Public Relations Officer

                                                                              South Western Railway, Hubballi