Konkan Railway Corporation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Konkan Railway Corporation (KRC) is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways (IR). It operates the Konkan Railways, a subsidiary zone of the Indian Railways. Its headquarters is at Belapur in New Bombay. KRC has been making losses since it opened in the 1990s prompting many to consider it merging with its parent company, IR.
Much was said about rail safety but little was implemented, they said. Surveys were being conducted in various sections, including in the Chennai-Bangalore and Chennai-Ernakulam section for installing ACDs. But what happened to the survey and whether the ACDs were fitted to major trains was not known.
The sources said immediately after a major accident, the Railway Minister and Railway Board members assured passengers that safety measures would be improved and that the ACDs fitted to all major trains after a field survey. But nothing was heard after a few days.
The Railway Board Chairman, R.K. Singh, when he was the General Manager of Northern Railway in April last year, said field trials had been conducted for the satellite-based ACD in the Jalandhar-Amritsar section to enhance safety on 1,800 km and that a survey was on for another 1,800 km in the same zone. Ironically, it was in this zone that Tuesday's accident occurred.
In Southern Railway, surveys for installing the device in the Chennai Central-Jolarpettai-Bangalore and Jolarpettai-Erode-Ernakulam sections began in May last year.
What is ACD? The ACD is a network of self-acting micro-processor based communication device which will automatically apply the brakes if there is any block on the track, according to the sources. These devices, along with an auto-braking unit, have to be fixed on locomotives and guard vans. The system will use both radio frequency and the global positioning system through satellite. Thus a train will automatically be brought to halt if the track is not clear. The train will start braking three km ahead of a blockade.
Successful field trials of the ACDs were conducted in Konkan Railway and the the first installations of the device are to be taken up this year.
