Black boxes in rail coaches to avert accidents

Shailvee Sharda| TNN | Updated: May 12, 2018,

HIGHLIGHTS

The first batch of smart rail coaches having black boxes like aircraft was unveiled at the rail coach factory in Rae Bareli on Friday.

"Smart coaches will be a game changer in the world of transportation. They can make railways as the safest mode of travel,” said Rajesh Agarwal, general manager of Rae Bareli rail coach factory

LUCKNOW: The first batch of smart rail coaches having black boxes like aircraft was unveiled at the rail coach factory in Rae Bareli on Friday. The technology is being adopted by Indian Railways to bring down train accidents.

"Smart coaches will be a game changer in the world of transportation. They can make railways as the safest mode of travel," said Rajesh Agarwal, general manager of Rae Bareli rail coach factory, while inaugurating the coach on the occasion of National Technology Day. Chief design engineer, Indrajit Singh, said that the black box in smart coaches is better than the one in planes.

“Unlike the black boxes in aircraft which cannot prevent accidents, the ones in smart coaches will prevent mishaps like derailments. The black box would monitor the train on several parameters in real time. In case of any deviation from normal, the surveillance unit would be a alerted so that maintenance schedules can be planned effectively,” he said.

The box would monitor temperature of internal wires, cables and connectors and would report deviations. This will help in checking short circuits that may cause fire.

The black box will also improved passenger amenities by issuing alert before air conditioning system fails.

Besides the black box, smart coaches will have other features such as smart CCTVcameras with real time video output, passenger information system, infotainment software and wi-fi access.

The coaches will now be dispatched to Research Designs and Standards Organisation, Lucknow, for trial and testing.

Drones to monitor rail coach factory

High-end drone cameras will now monitor Modern Rail Coach Factory, Rae Bareli, which houses railway property worth Rs 25,000 crores. The factory becomes the first among all Indian Railways units to start state-of-the-art air surveillance, said official spokesperson. “The cameras will work 24X7 and alert security unit in case of overcrowding, target tracking, fire detection, suspicious behaviour detection,” officials said.