Indian Railways has got smarter with state-of-the-art Black Boxes for coaches to prevent accidents and GenX drones to guard over the modern coach factory in Rae Bareli. Shalini Saksena tells you more
Rail accidents and derailments will soon be a thing of the past with the Modern Coach Factory in Rae Bareli coming up with a technology that will not only read that a disaster is going to happen but prevent it too.
Given the fact that the number of deaths recorded in 2017-18 stood at 73 and derailments at 39, this smart technology — a Black Box — is what the Railways urgently need. The Black Box is a one of its kind prototype all set to go for testing. It is powered to prevent rail accidents and, thereby, save public lives and money.
The brainchild of general manager of Modern Coach Factory, Rae Bareli, Rajesh Agrawal, in collaboration with the Tata Group and other vendors, have developed this smart coach. “Unlike a Black Box in an aircraft which tells you the reason after a crash has occurred, by analysing the data, this box will monitor the coach on various parametres like wheel pressure, temperature, AC systems and track sensors to find any abnormal vibrations. In real time, any abnormality detected by the box will automatically be sent to the control room from where preventive measures can then be taken. In other words, accidents and derailments will be averted,” Agrawal explained.
This unique Black Box will also improve passenger amenities by issuing alerts before the air conditioning system fails.
Besides the Black Box, smart coaches will have other features like smart CCTV cameras with real-time video outputs, passenger information system, infotainment software and wi-fi access.
Interestingly, this is the first of its kind Black Box in the world. While other railway systems in the world do have boxes, it doesn’t have the features that this indigenously developed box has. The device was unveiled on National Technology Day on May 11, 2018. Once, this technology gets approved and implemented, coach drivers will be trained on how to deal with any impending disaster.
Agrawal and his team had been studying this project for the past three months before coming up with the disaster-preventing Black Box which awaits approval, testing and implementation.
This box will be fitted in the linke Hofmann Busch (lHB) coaches being manufactured in India. The advantage of such coaches is that, centre buffer couplers (CBCs) are used to join coaches into rakes. “These couplers are anti-telescopic, which means coaches don’t topple in case there is a collision or derailment. Also, the coaches are made of stainless steel which makes them much lighter than conventional coaches. An improved suspension system ensures riding comfort too,” Agrawal said.
For those who don’t know the reason for certain coloured coaches, the lHB coaches are red coloured like the ones in Shatabdis. It costs an additional Rs 15 to Rs 20 lakh per coach to deck up the system with the new technology. The Railways will replicate the system in many more coaches after the trial run.
Away from the Black Box, the upgraded surveillance systems built into the drones are being touted by the Railways as a feat in itself. These drones have already been deployed to monitor the factory.
“The factory is the first among all Indian Railways units to start this state-of-the-art air surveillance. The cameras will work 24x7 and alert security units in case of overcrowding, target tracking, fire detection or suspicious behaviour detection,” Agrawal explained.