Local trains in Mumbai hold a significant place in the city’s daily routine. The local trains are rightly called the lifeline of the city and to expand the scope of the local trains, the Railways are all set to introduce a signalling technology that will reduce the span of the arrival of two trains resulting in a rise of the frequency of trains.
The technology, Communication Based Technology Control (CBTC) is expected to increase the number of train services to 24 trains per hour, from 16 at present.
The present Mumbai suburban railway technology is a fixed block that makes use of colors — red, yellow, orange and green — for movement and stoppage of a suburban train running. CBTC is an automatic technology that calculates the speed and braking distance. The technology in the trains would be able to judge the distance of the preceding train and adjust their position, accordingly ensuring safety,” a senior railway official told The Indian Express.
The technology is currently in use in the Metro Rail services at Mumbai and Delhi and by using CBTC, Railways aim to reduce the gap between two trains. Operating CBTC will ease the span between two trains, i.e. every 2.5 to 2.75 minutes, compared to 3 to 3.6 minutes currently.
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The total cost of the project is ₹5,927 crore and will be completed in two phases.
The Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) has announced to bring the technology under the scheme, Mumbai Urban Transport Project III and last week, a detailed project report (DPR) was sent to the Railway Board.
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As per MRVC, over the next four years, CBTC would reduce the passenger density from 5,400 passengers per 12- car train to 4,800 passengers. On an average day, Mumbai local trains witness 10 deaths, out of which majority of them die due to falling from overcrowded local trains.
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