Bangalore City Station gets new signal system

Bangalore City Station gets new signal system

Anil Kumar Sastry
The electronic interlocking system will replace the mechanical one
— PHOTO: G.R.N. SOMASHEKAR

ON TRACK: The new signal system is expected to ensure better coordination at the Bangalore City Railway Station.
BANGALORE: Even though your train has reached Bangalore and the City Railway Station is a stone’s throw away, you are running out of patience as your train is waiting for signal clearance to enter the platform.

This endless wait will be a thing of the past from Monday when the Bangalore Division of South Western Railway completes installation of electronic interlocking system replacing the present electrical and mechanical signalling system.

The existing system, where coordination between three signal cabins at three ends of the station was required, has completed 25 years and was due for replacement, said Akhil Agarwal, Divisional Railway Manager.

“As such, we planned to install the state-of-the-art electronic interlocking system that can ensure smooth reception and dispatch of trains with no confusion,” Mr. Agarwal told The Hindu.

The work on signal modernisation started from Thursday morning and is expected to be completed by Sunday midnight.

“For this, we have diverted two pairs of trains from the City Station while another two pairs of trains are being terminated at the Bangalore Cantonment Station,” Mr. Agarwal said.

Under the new setup, there would be one control room wherein a single person controls the entire operations. The system completely ruled out the possibility of two trains entering the same line, which so far did not happen. This would ensure that trains do not wait outside the station to enter the platform, he added.

Upgraded
The interlocking system was regularly being upgraded – from manual interlocking to route-relay and now solid State interlocking, said Anwar Hussain, Senior Divisional Safety Officer. If the first and last points were connected, the middle points got connected automatically thereby reducing time under the new system, he said.