Shri Suresh Angadi inaugurates Webinar on Innovations and Technology Adoptions by S&T Department, Southern Railway

Hon’ble Minister of State for Railways, Shri. Suresh Angadi on 04.08.2020 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.
    • 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.
    • Solid State Automatic Signalling System: It is modern Micro controller based automatic signaling system.It will make faster installation of  automatic signalling system & improve the reliability.
  • New Installations of “Siemens EI (Electronic Interlocking) System & “Online Examination Module” in S&T Training Centre, Podanur.
    • Siemens EI system installation in Training Centre:  will facilitate the hands o­n training o­n the latest Electronic Interlocking.
    • 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.
  • 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.
    • 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.
  • Laying of OFC Cable using Blown Fibre Technology” for the first time in Indian Railways.
    • 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 in adopting 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 & Telecommunication technologies. 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 Counterwith inbuilt multiplexer – Benefits for Auto Signaling Application” by Shri. Rajganesh, Manager/R&D, M/s. GG Tronics.
  • 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.

Source: Southern Railway-Press Release