In a move that could save passengers from being stranded in trains for hours due to snags that develop en route, Chennai Metro Rail plans to introduce a new technology that will allow them to control trains remotely and fix the problem within minutes.
According to officials of the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), they plan to bring in an asset management system for their trains to sort out snags from the control room itself.
“If a train stops in some location due to some failure or any technical issue a train develops, instead of going all the way to the location, we can access the data of the system inside the train remotely and solve it. What may take about half hour to even an hour can be solved within 5-10 minutes. Instead of sending in a person, we can give instructions to the train operator and solve the problem,” an official said.
Access to real time data
Officials said, through this system, the train’s data can be accessed from anywhere. “Even if I sit in one part of the world, all I need to know is the system’s user id and password to access the data and solve the problem; it will be restricted and confidential and only a few people will have access to it,” he added.
The system will collect and transmit train parameters and data, and provide alerts in real time even when the train is in operation; it will transmit it to depot maintenance server, the official added.
They have called for tenders now and soon after the contract is awarded, in six months, the prototype of this system will be ready. Months later, it will be installed in trains.
“Though we have about 10-15 trains in operations now, the software will be installed in all 42 trains that will run for the phase I project. This will benefit passengers to a great extent,” he added.
It is not clear yet how much the system and the entire installation process will cost.
