Indian Railways Seeks Technological Solutions to Enhance Track Safety Following Sabarmati Express Derailment

After Sabarmati Express derailment, Railways seeks tech aid to boost track safety | India News - Times of India

NEW DELHI: The recent derailment of 22 coaches of Sabarmati Express due to an alleged sabotage could have caused massive human casualties, but for the keen eyes of loco pilot A P Bundela, 57, who spotted a "piece of old rail" placed on the track. His 15-year experience as a mail/express driver came to probably his life's best use when he jammed the emergency brakes of the train carrying 1,727 passengers and averted a major mishap. While this came as a sigh of relief, at least four recent instances of planting foreign objects on tracks such as boulders, wheels and iron rods have rung alarm bells to railway officials.The national transporter, sources said, is exploring options of using technology such as Lidar - a method of determining ranges by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver - and installing CCTV cameras equipped with Artificial Intelligence (AI) on every locomotive. They added that sensitive areas will be identified for more intense patrolling. In the latest Sabarmati Express accident case, the Uttar Pradesh Police have lodged an FIR against unknown persons for sabotage based on a complaint by a senior railway official claiming that the "piece of rail" was deliberately placed on the track. Railway officials said there was another incident of iron rods being placed on the rail track near Kachhpura junction in Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh) on Aug 18. They added that the engine had hit the rods, but no accident occured. "Three iron rods of 9 mm diameter and 11 ft long were found. They have been kept for investigation," said an official. A few days ago in another incident, the Banaras-Ahmedabad train had derailed because of an accident caused due to foreign objects kept on the track near Kanpur. "These incidents are a cause of concern. We are taking all possible steps and exploring how technology can be used to prevent such accidents. CCTV cameras can catch the details of object from a certain distance while the trains need more than a kilometre to come to complete halt after applying emergency brake. It's a big challenge. Efforts are on to catch the culprits," said an official. Meanwhile, sources said railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and top officials have been holding meetings to finalise the range of CCTV cameras that would be installed on locomotives equipped with AI. The AI software in the cameras, after getting the image will process it to identify whether it's a foreign object or an unnatural or moving object like animals or humas, and immediately alert the drivers.

Railways Seeks Tech Aid to Enhance Track Safety After Sabarmati Express Derailment | Delhi News - Times of India

Dipak.Dash New Delhi: The recent derailment of 22 coaches of Sabarmati Express due to an alleged sabotage could have caused massive human casualties, but for the keen eyes of loco pilot A P Bundela, 57, who spotted a "piece of old rail" placed on the track. His 15-year experience as a mail/express driver came to probably his life's best use when he jammed the emergency brakes of the train carrying 1,727 passengers and averted a major mishap. While this came as a sigh of relief, at least four recent instances of planting foreign objects on tracks such as boulders, wheels and iron rods have rung alarm bells to railway officials.The national transporter, sources said, is exploring options of using technology such as Lidar -- a method of determining ranges by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver -- and installing CCTV cameras equipped with Artificial Intelligence (AI) on every locomotive. They added that sensitive areas will be identified for more intense patrolling. In the latest Sabarmati Express accident case, the Uttar Pradesh Police have lodged an FIR against unknown persons for sabotage based on a complaint by a senior railway official claiming that the "piece of rail" was deliberately placed on the track. Railway officials said there was another incident of iron rods being placed on the rail track near Kachhpura junction in Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh) on Aug 18. They added that the engine had hit the rods, but no accident occured. "Three iron rods of 9 mm diameter and 11 ft long were found. They have been kept for investigation," said an official. A few days ago in another incident, the Banaras-Ahmedabad train had derailed because of an accident caused due to foreign objects kept on the track near Kanpur. "These incidents are a cause of concern. We are taking all possible steps and exploring how technology can be used to prevent such accidents. CCTV cameras can catch the details of object from a certain distance while the trains need more than a kilometre to come to complete halt after applying emergency brake. It's a big challenge. Efforts are on to catch the culprits," said an official. Meanwhile, sources said railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and top officials have been holding meetings to finalise the range of CCTV cameras that would be installed on locomotives equipped with AI. The AI software in the cameras, after getting the image will process it to identify whether it's a foreign object or an unnatural or moving object like animals or humas, and immediately alert the drivers.