Indian Railways Gets Rs 25,000-cr Makeover, Train Travel to Become Faster, Safer

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved allotment of 5 MHz Spectrum in 700 MHz frequency band to Indian Railways for public safety and security services at stations and in trains. The estimated investment in the project is more than Rs. 25,000 crore, the ministry of railways said in a statement.

“With this spectrum, Indian Railways has envisaged to provide Long Term Evolution (LTE) based Mobile Train Radio Communication on its route,” the statement mentioned. The purpose of the LTE for Indian Railways is to provide secure and reliable voice, video and data communication services for operational, safety and security applications.

It will be used for modern signalling and train protection systems and ensure seamless communication between loco pilots and guards. The new system will also enable Internet of Things (IoT) based remote asset monitoring especially of coaches, wagons & locos, and live video feed of CCTV cameras in the train coaches to ensure efficient, safer and faster train operations, the Indian Railways said. “It will also enable Internet of Things (IoT) based remote asset monitoring especially of coaches, wagons & locos, and live video feed of CCTV cameras in the train coaches to ensure efficient, safer and faster train operations,” according to the official statement.

Moreover, railways has approved Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), an indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) System, which will help in avoiding train collisions thereby reducing accidents and ensuring passenger safety, it further said.

This decision will help in improving the safety and increasing the line capacity to accommodate more trains using the existing infrastructure. The modern rail network will result in reduced transportation cost and higher efficiency. This new investment is all set to a bring a strategic shift in India Railways’ operations and maintenance regime.

It will further attract multinational industries to set up manufacturing units to fulfill the ‘Make in India’ mission and generate employment, the railways said.

“The spectrum charges may be levied based on formula basis as prescribed by department of telecommunications for royalty charges and license fee for captive use as recommended by telecom regulatory authority of India,” ministry added.

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