Konkan railways ready for monsoon season

Team Udayavani, May 27, 2019, 12:04 PM IST

Mangaluru: About 630 personnel will be patrolling its route during the monsoon as as one of the safety measures taken up by Konkan Railways which is getting all set to face the SW monsoon by putting in place adequate safety measures.

To ensure safe running of trains, patrolling is conducted as per the provisions of Indian Railway Permanent Way Manual. Round-the-clock patrolling and a stationary watchman will be deployed at vulnerable locations. BRN mounted excavators have been kept ready at all nominated points for quick movement in case of emergency stated a press released for the department.

Train speed reduced

Loco pilots have been instructed to run trains at a reduced speed of 40 kmph in case of heavy rainfall and limited visibility. Self-propelled accident relief medical van, with provision of operation theatre and providing emergency medical aid have been kept at the ready at Ratnagiri and Verna (Goa) along with Accident Relief Train, added the release.

Mobile phones, satellite phones, walkie-talkies, ARMV

All safety category staff have been provided with mobile phones to contact central control during emergencies. Walkie-talkie sets have been provided to the loco pilot as well as the guards aboard the trains. Every station has been equipped with 25 Watt VHF base station enabling wireless communication between the train crew and the Station Master. Emergency communication sockets have been provided at a average distance of 1 km along the Konkan Railway route from Kolad to Thokuru (Mangaluru) permitting the patrolmen, watchmen, loco pilots, guards and other field maintenance staff to contact the Station Master and Train Controllers during any emergencies. Accident relief medical van (ARMV) has been provided with satellite phone communication for emergency contact when ARMV is ordered in service. Meanwhile, all main signal aspects on Konkan Railway have been replaced with LED for improving signal visibility, informed the release.

Control room on 24hrs work schedule

Control rooms at Belapur, Ratnagiri and Madgaon, will work round-the-clock during the monsoon period. The monsoon time table will come into effect from June 10, 2019, till October 31, 2019. Hence, passengers who have been issued journey tickets prior to announcement of the Monsoon Time Table, are requested to check train timings in advance as the departure times of some trains might have been revised. Trains can be monitored online through www.konkanrailway.com or on the KRCL app.