PODANUR JN

Tapping alternative sources of energy:  Southern Railway is o­n mission mode to becoming energy efficient

Southern Railway is taking all out efforts in harnessing alternative sources of energy.  In tune with the robust policies of Ministry of Railways, Southern Railway has been cutting down o­n energy costs making substantial savings in this front.   With the vision of becoming ‘Green mode of transport’, the zone is expediting its electrification projects and thus reducing carbon emission.  270 route kilometrage of Electrified lines are targeted for completion in this financial year (2020-21).  Besides Solar power projects, innovative initiatives such as harnessing renewable energy through Wind mills is also gaining momentum. 

The total capacity of Solar power plants installed by Southern Railway is  4.74 MWp.   3.985 MWp solar plant was installed under PPA ( Power Purchase Agreement) mode and 0.755 MW was installed departmentally.  Solar power panels have been installed at various locations/railway stations such as Dr MGR Central Central, MMC complex, Katpadi , Tambaram EMU car-shed, Mambalam, Guindy and Chengalpattu suburban stations,Divisional Railway Managers’ Offices at Tiruchchirappalli and Madurai, Chief Workshop Manager’s Office at Trichy Golden Rock Workshop, at Level Crossing Gates in Nagercoil-Thiruvananthapuram section, Signal & Telecom Workshop at Podanur, Salem Jn, Namakkal, Tiruppur, Sivakasi,  to mention a few. 

The zone has ambitious plans to increase solar power generation in the coming years. It is proposed to provide Rooftop solar plants of 2.69 MWp under developer mode by Solar power developerat Perambur and Golden Rock workshops. Solar plants  o­n vacant unused railway land will be installed with a capacity of around 67 MWp and capacity of 40 MWp will be installed along the track over Southern Railway through PPA mode. For this purpose, Southern Railway has identified 300 acres of vacant land and 160 acres of land alongside the track. Tender has been floated by Railway Energy Management Company Limited (REMCL) for around 67 MWp land based solar plants and bidders are doing survey in Southern Railway. Tender for 40 MWp o­n land alongside the track is expected to be floated by REMCL shortly.

With focus o­n harnessing renewable energy through Windmills, Windmill Plants have been erected at Kayathar (near Gangai Kondan/Kadambur Railway stations) in Tuticorin district under Madurai division of Southern Railway.  The total capacity of Wind Mill plants in Southern Railway is 10.5 MW. 

By way of increasing its capacity of Solar power plants and Windmills, Southern Railway has achieved a savings of Rs.16.64 crores from renewable energy sources during the year 2019-20.  The Railway is committed to fast tracking its renewable energy projects with a vision to cut down power costs and support the Nation’s cause for ‘Atma-Nirbhar’

B. Guganesan

Chief Public Relations Officer

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