MTRC System commissioned in trains ; First of its Kind in Indian Railways

On March 1, 2021, Alok Kansal, General Manager, Western Railway inaugurated the newly commissioned Mobile Train Radio Communication (MTRC) system (also known as Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway (GSM-R)) at Divisional Railway Manager’s office in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is the 1st time that MTRC has been commissioned in Indian Railways (IR).

• MTRC System is a TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) based Digital technology.
• It can help in preventing train accidents by ensuring an instant & constant interaction of train crew with the Control Centre and the Station Master.
• It will monitor, track (through GPS) & aid in communication between the trains & the control room and ensure smooth movement of rakes & in mitigation of adverse events.

Where has it been commissioned?

• The MTRC system has been commissioned in the 60 km suburban section between Churchgate-Virar section of Mumbai and installed in 90 out of 100 rakes running in the section.
• Technical and maintenance support of the new MTRC system will be provided by M/s. Consort Digital Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi for seven years with an estimated cost of Rs. 5.98 Crore.

Churchgate-Virar section

• The 60-Km suburban section between Churchgate-Virar is a high-density-traffic route, trains run with a headway (interval) of approximately 3 minutes in peak hours.
• It transports around 3.4 Million passengers each day by operating over 1300 services.

Features

• MTRC has been integrated with the existing Train Management System to enable controllers to communicate with Driver & Guard using Train number & cab number code.
• It also has a provision for broadcast calls which can be used in case of emergency.
• The Section controller can initiate Broadcast calls to all Motormen/Guards of train & passengers of the train.
• It takes the lowest time (i.e 300 milliseconds) to connect calls.

Benefits

• Single Touch Dialing for calling any of the 2 section train controllers – Deputy Train Controller, EMU Controller.
• Motormen can directly communicate the defect of EMU-to-EMU Controller which will reduce detention of other trains.
• Overriding feature, whereby if an MTRC phone is busy on making emergency calls the feature can be used to establish communication.

Recent Related News:

i.On May 18, 2020 Indian Railways(IR) operationalised its 1st 12,000 hp electric made in India Locomotive, WAG12 from Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Station (Mughalsarai Junction), Uttar Pradesh to Shivpur.

About Indian Railways:
Chairman & CEO – Suneet Sharma
Headquarters – New Delhi