During monsoons in Mumbai visuals of water-logging is very common. Everything becomes stand-still as the city surrenders to rain. Mumbai trains which is known to be the lifeline of the financial capital of India also stops its operations. In a big relief for Mumbai train commuters who face problems and disruption in services because of water-logging on tracks, the central government is all set to roll out a modified “waterproof” locomotive engine which will even be able to operate in 12 inches of water. This will provide a relief to the Mumbaikars during heavy monsoon rain.
Central Railway Chief PRO Sunil Udasi said, “In the view of heavy rainfall adversely affecting suburban train services since the last few years, we have developed a modified locomotive engine which will be handy to pull out rakes marooned in rain waters.” He also said that the modified locomotive engines are ready for use and can be deployed anytime for operation.
At present, only four inches of water is enough to bring the locomotive engine to halt. Udasi said, “Presently, four inches of water on the tracks can cause such a disruption. In the new locomotive engine, the traction motor has been sealed completely to prevent the track water from entering it.” Over 70 lakh people use suburban train daily, use of modified locomotive engine will ensure smooth working of the suburban train even during heavy rainfall. Once again technology and innovation is going to make life easier for the people.
Apart from introducing modified locomotive engine, the Railway Ministry completed the long overdue task of raising the height of all platforms of Western Suburban railway stations. Chief PR officer of Western Railway, Ravinder Bhakar said, “We have raised the height of platforms at all stations to 900 mm, at a cost of Rs 30 crore.” The lower platform height had resulted in several accidental deaths and was a cause of concern for the people of Mumbai.
Under Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and his predecessor Suresh Prabhu, Indian railways have taken significant strides in technological improvements. The Railway ministry has used the social media very well to address the grievances of the commuters. Many technological improvement measures have been made in respect to improve the safety of the commuters. In order to make travel safe and secure, Indian railways is going to install Online Monitoring of Rolling Stock (OMRS) on 25 routes across the nation at the cost of Rs 115 Crore.
The Online Monitoring of Rolling Stock (OMRS) technology comprises of microphones and sensors, which record the noises generated by the coaches and locomotives when they are in motion on the tracks. OMRS equipment is considered extremely sensitive and capable of recording even the minutest of abnormal sounds emanating from the train. On detecting any abnormality, it will alert the control room. Earlier, the Railway Ministry had approved the installation of Centre Buffer Coupling (CBC), an equipment that ensures coaches do not climb on top of each other in case of an unfortunate accident.
The BJP government has completely revolutionized the Indian Railways. Ensuring safety and security is of paramount importance for the incumbent government. Piyush Goyal took on the mantle of handling railways at a time when it was facing criticism. It was Goyal who took railways to new heights by taking the total number of accidents down to 2-figure mark for the first time till date. Thus, he made railways a safe and reliable mode of transport.