The Railways has cautioned all its zones to take greater care during infrastructure work as damage to signal, and telecommunication cables can pose a serious threat to safety and train operations. According to the Railways, it can also lead to “catastrophic consequences”. In a letter addressed to all zones, the Railway Board wrote, “”Such repeated signal failures due to cable damages pose a serious threat to the safety and reliability of train services and could lead to catastrophic consequences if adequate precautions are not taken.” According to the Railway Board, the safety instructions have been issued to zones from time to time, for protecting the signal and telecommunication cables along the railway tracks as reported in the PTI.
What does it meany by the word signalling failure in the railways?
In railways, signalling failure means that the safety systems designed to control train movements are malfunctioning. Due to the malfunctioning, they cause a signal to show an incorrect indication (for example- a red light when it should be green) or for the system to not know if a section of track is clear). These errors force the trains to stop, thus leading to delays for the commuters. These failures are not usually connected with the signal itself being wrong. They can be rather a problem with the associated track circuits, axle counters, power supply, or points that detect train location or direct trains safely.
What did Ashwini Vaishnaw said about the signalling failure?
According to the reply by the railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in Rajya Sabha in 2023, there have been 13 instances of signalling failure in the Railways in the past five years. However, the railway minister said that there has been no incident due to the defects in the interlocking signal system.
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