Southern Railways first to test on-board GPS, says official

Southern Railway had tested GPS enabled tracking in EMUs in the city a few years ago to increase the punctuality of the local trains. The system provided for sending and recording the train timing and location to the division and zonal headquarters. The project, however, did not go its full distance, allegedly due to problems in maintenance, sources said.

“The EMU project was done on a trial basis, but work was not sanctioned.

Based on the feedback and further development, the public announcement system project was sanctioned,” a senior SR officer said.

The operational GPS-enabled PAS in EMUs starts working as soon as the motorman of the EMU turns on the device, which he is mandated to do while starting. “In the past, timing and location of the trains were communicated only by the loco pilot and station masters. It was manually and less accurate. This system operates with GPS and circuits, which are connected to the control centre. As soon as the train crosses a signal or reaches a station, the details would immediately be communicated to the control center via the circuit, and displayed on the electronic board on board the EMU,” a senior election engineer of SR in the know of things told DT Next.

GAGAN is monitored on real-time basis from the control centre without circuit. “It is being tested in northern railway zone. Once the trial gets over, the details will be sent to Centre for Railway Information Systems. The board will decide on extending the system. We are yet to receive any communication on experimenting GAGAN in SR,” said a senior official.