ISLAMABAD: Mrs. Parveen Agha, Chairperson Ministry of Railways was briefed on Train Approaching Warning System at Level Crossings (TAWC) and Train Collision Avoiding System (TCAS) on Wednesday.
The purpose of the briefing was to find out IT and indigenous solutions for controlling accidents. It was told that TAWC has been finalized and 5 prototypes will be installed at busy are as till December 2017 to check the new signaling system.
TAWC will consist of a sensor on both sides of the level crossing at the distance of almost 3 kms.Sensors will detect the movement of the train. There are dual sensors which will provide redundancy and compensation for variation in depth. Sirens will also be installed to alert the pedestrians or vehicles. This setup is 2 watts solar powered and will be wireless.
The clearance to passerby will only be given after the train passed. But this system will not supersede the responsibility of locomotive drivers and gateman. This system will provide audio-visual warning signals to vehicles and pedestrian. There will be 7-inch high brightness display for driver’s information. Video of crossing with reasonable resolution will also be provided to locomotive drivers when the train is 3 km away. The system should maintain alarm and video log in addition to the event log for the period of 15 days. The system should provide HD video in driver’s cabin system.The frequency will be 433 MHz.
Another system TCAS is also been briefed. This system will avoid the risk of collision of trains due to human error and equipment failure. This system will act as a watch dog.in this system radars will be used in trains so that trains can identify each other. It is a GPS based system, which will tell the drivers about the time, location, speed and course of travel of the approaching trains that can collide.It will be fitted in locomotives and brake vans. As a result there will be long-range wireless communication between units. There will be warning lights.
Both these systems are evolving. For usage of these systems, training will be given to drivers. It was decided in the meeting that media will be engaged in order to give awareness to the public about TAWC.Mr. Anjum Parvez, Advisor, Mr. Hamayun Rashid, AGM I, Mr. Munawar Shah, DG Technical, Ms. Ambreen Zaman, Chief Electrical Engineer, Mr. Abdul Malik, DS Rawalpindi Division, CEN Open Lines, COPS, Chief Mechanical Engineer Locomotives and Chief Signal Engineer were also present in the briefing. NNI