The Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, is developing a tamper-proof signalling system based on blockchain technology for the Indian Railways. Embedded with enhanced safety measures, the new system would complement the existing Data Logger which is considered the ‘Black Box’ of rolling stock.
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Acting on a request made by the Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw, researchers in the Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE) stream are working on a robust system that would facilitate a mechanism to ensure safety, communication and control of train operations.
According to Professor Aurobinda Routray of IIT-Kharagpur, blockchain is a system of recording information which cannot be tampered, hacked or manipulated. The technology was being widely used in cryptocurrency and banking transactions.
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“After Mr. Vaishnaw sought a proposal on a fool-proof signalling system based on blockchain, I am writing the programme along with some colleagues in IIT-Bhubaneshwar. Blockchain is being deployed in many developing countries and I think the technology can immensely benefit the Indian Railways as safety of train operations,” he said.
Enhanced transparency
Prof. Routray said the focus was to make the live movement of trains available for Station Masters, Section Controllers, Signal Engineers and others with all logs. On how different the initiative would be from the existing Data Logger, he said that the new system would provide enhanced data integrity, transparency and security. It would enable secure data sharing among stakeholders, automate processes with smart contracts and create tamper-evident audit trails.
The system would complement the Data Logger which was limited by its centralised storage facility, lack of tamper-evident data, and limited access control. The new blockchain system would address these limitations by storing data in a distributed ledger, using cryptography to ensure data integrity, and making data accessible to all stakeholders. This would make the new system more secure, transparent, and efficient than the current system.
In addition, Prof. Routray said, the blockchain system would provide several benefits, such as increased accountability, safety and efficiency. Overall, the new blockchain system would be a significant improvement over the current system. “All events occurring in the train and control room would be recorded securely and no one can tamper with it or bypass it.”
The proposed blockchain enabled tamper-proof signalling system gains significance in the backdrop of the devastating train accident at Bahanaga Bazar railway station of Kharagpur Division in South Eastern Railway on June 2, 2023, which killed 291 passengers and left over 900 others injured.