On the occasion of Engineers Day i.e. September 15, 2020, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) launched i-ATS (Automatic Train Supervision), the first Made-in-India signalling system. It is an important sub-system of the signalling system for the development of CBTC (Communication Based Train Control) based signalling technology for metro railway by automatically detecting all trains on a corridor.
- The prototype, as well as a state of the art laboratory for further development of the technology, was inaugurated at the Metro’s Shastri Park depot, Delhi by Union Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) Secretary, Durga Shanker Mishra in the presence of DMRC managing director Mangu Singh, v director Shikha Gupta, and other senior officials from DMRC and BEL.
- Along with the DMRC, NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog, MoHUA, BEL and Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) are part of this development. DMRC and BEL inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for development of this indigenous ATS system.
- Notably, this system is imperative in running and stopping trains as it helps in applying brakes in emergency situations.
Key Points:
-This launch is on the lines of ‘Make in India’ under which MoHUA has decided to indigenize the CBTC technology. Therefore, DMRC opted to use indigenous ATS (i-ATS) while upgrading the ATS of line 1 (Red Line) i.e. from Rithala to Shaheed Sthal, Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh).
-This will reduce the dependence of Indian metros on foreign vendors dealing and can be customized as per the need. Also it is cheaper.
What is Automatic Train Supervision (ATS)?
It is a computer based system to manage high density train operations such as the metro, where services are scheduled every few minutes. Its key features are as follows:
- It can work with Train Control & Signaling Systems of different suppliers.
- It can work with different levels of technology of Train control and Signalling systems.
- It is also suitable for introduction in Indian Railways which is now introducing Centralized Train control, on a large scale, which uses part of ATS functions.
Recent Related News:
On June 25, 2020 Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) organized an online event to mark the 5th Anniversary of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana(Urban) (PMAY-U), Smart Cities Mission (SCM) and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).
About Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs(MoHUA):
Minister of State (MoS) – Hardeep Singh Puri
List of Schemes under MoHUA – Smart Cities Mission, HRIDAY, AMRUT, Urban Transport, Swachh Bharat Mission, Cleanest cities in India.
