In a move to prevent accidents, Railways has given its nod to a Rs. 28.61 crore contract for installation of a Train Protection Warning System (TPWS) along the 67-km Basin Bridge-Arrakonam route. Thales India has been awarded the contract, according to a senior Railway Ministry official.
TPWS, which is based on European Train Control System (ETCS) Level-I, is a proven train protection technology meant to prevent accidents due to a driver’s failure to observe a signal or speed restriction.
Information regarding signal aspects, maximum permissible speed for a particular section, gradient, inter-signal distance and speed restrictions is taken into account while calculating the target speed and target distance displayed on DMI (Driver-machine Interface) in TPWS-equipped locomotives.
“A total of 169 signals in the Basin Bridge-Arrakonam section will be protected with the TPWS,” said the official, who added that “Thales will deploy its ETCS Level-I solution and will be responsible for the design, supply, installation and commissioning of track-side equipment.”
The commissioning of the TPWS is expected to be achieved by 2015. TPWS has been implemented as a pilot project on the 50-km Chennai-Gummidipundi suburban section.
The advanced system has also been commissioned on the 25-km Dum Dum-Kavi Subhash section of Kolkata Metro. Also, TPWS trials are in progress with 35 locomotives on selected trains on the 200-km long Nizamuddin-Agra section.
