Avantal to install MSS system on Indian Railways’ Chennai line

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The Hyderabad based firm, Avantal, will be installing its Mobile Satellite Service system on Indian Railways’ Southern Zone Chennai section from 2012 start.

The installation will be done on a pilot basis on 107 locomotives that currently run on this section and ‘will take couple of months to complete’.

P Bala Bhaskar Rao, vice president (Operations) of Hyderabad-based Avantel said:

“We will commence installation of Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) system from next week covering 107 locomotives that run on the Chennai section. The installation and integration of the system will be completed by February next year.”

After the success of the pilot project, Indian Railways will install the MSS system all over the country.

Indian Railways are currently using a Real Time Train Information System called SIMRAN for tracking train timings on selected trains.

The GPS based train tracking system is jointly developed by Research Design and Standards Organisation & Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.

The RTIS system has some limitations as it runs on Global System for Mobile communication technology that is used in mobile phones.

According to Bhaskar, GSM has coverage issues unlike satellite-based system such as MSS.

At present, Indian Railways’ track trains manually from station to station, which ‘sometimes gives way to human errors leading to accidents and other operational problems’.

The new system will allow tracking the movement and location of each train on a real time basis.

“Once the system is in place several value-added services such as providing passengers with accurate information on train arrival time etc will be developed around it,” Rao added.

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