Indian Railways Invests in Modernization and Safety with Rs 632 Crore Projects

Indian Railways is upgrading to Electronic Interlocking systems at 27 stations and enhancing optical fibre communication across South Eastern Railway, investing Rs 632 crore in total. These projects aim to improve safety, reliability, and operational efficiency on high-density, highly utilized networks.

In a bid to modernize and enhance safety on its networks, Indian Railways has sanctioned a substantial project worth Rs 432 crore for the replacement of outdated relay-based interlocking systems with Electronic Interlocking (EI) at 27 stations in the Asansol Division. The initiative encompasses the transition of 28 interlocking installations to state-of-the-art EI technology, which promises to boost safety, reliability, and efficiency across the High Density Network (HDN) and Highly Utilised Network (HUN) routes.

This move is part of Indian Railways' broader program to integrate advanced signalling systems, such as Kavach, Automatic Block Signalling (ABS), and Centralised Traffic Control (CTC), into its operations. By adopting the modern Electronic Interlocking technology, rail operations can expect greater reliability, quicker fault diagnosis, and improved operational flexibility compared to the older relay-based systems.

Furthering its commitment to modernization, Indian Railways has also approved a Rs 200-crore project for expanding its digital communication network with Balance 48-Fibre Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) over 1,696.2 Route Kilometres in South Eastern Railway. This addition will strengthen the communication infrastructure needed to support safer and more efficient train operations across four major divisions in the region.