Western and Central Railways adopt innovations this monsoon to ensure uninterrupted train services

MUMBAI: The Western and Central Railway on Sunday announced multiple innovations that have been adopted for monsoon preparedness.
This includes pulse radar-based water monitoring system at sensitive bridges, remote operated floater cameras for capturing images of culverts/bridges and point machine covers which ensures protection in flood prone zones of suburban railways.
A point machine (next to tracks) allows trains to cross from one track to another by connecting lines.
CR chief spokesperson Swapnil Nila said the suburban railways were actively engaged with a mission-oriented approach to ensure uninterrupted train services during monsoon.
"We have developed point machine covers, which have been implemented at 231 identified flood-prone locations across the CR network, ensuring widespread protection and reliability. Reduction in point machine failures during flooding significantly improves operational efficiency This enhancement eliminates the need for manual clamping of points, which are traditionally required during such failures," he added.
Western Railway chief spokesperson Vineet Abhishek said : "We have set up a pulse radar-based water level monitoring system at sensitive bridges, consisting of water level monitoring equipment and intelligent field devices. This system transmits water level data every 15 minutes via GPRS to a centralised data center, which is then linked to the Railway IT app known as the Bridge Management system. Officials receive SMS alerts for immediate updates on this app. Now, it is possible to monitor river water levels in real-time from any location through a basic Internet browser."
Abhishek further said : "WR has also introduced remote cameras to capture images of culverts and bridges that are difficult to access manually. This marks the first implementation of such technology in Indian Railways. The cameras come with built-in lighting systems to ensure clear images of underground culverts, even in low-light conditions. The images are then used to facilitate the cleaning of these culverts."
Nila said during heavy rainfall and severe weather warnings, both railways will maintain close coordination with the Disaster Management cell of BMC.
"The municipal bodies have been creating awareness among residents of neighbourhoods and slums near the tracks to prevent disposal of garbage and waste on tracks. Special timetable on high tide and heavy rainfall days has been adopted. WR and CR are also in close coordination with various other municipal bodies for providing prior information to the Railway whenever water is being released from the dams affecting bridges and tracks.
Arranging local transport for quick disbursal o f passengers during emergencies will also be done through municipal bodies," he added.