NON-INTERLOCKING WORK IN WAR FOOTING AT DUM DUM JN FOR COMMISSIONING OF ELECTRONIC INTERLOCKING
Kolkata, March 16, 2024.
Dum Dum Junction is one of the busiest junctions in the Sealdah suburban Section with movement in 5 directions. The existing Route Relay Interlocking (RRI) System at Dum Dum was commissioned in 1996 is now going to be replaced with an Electronic Interlocking System and the work for this has already started from midnight (00:00 hrs). All the departments are continuing the work on a war footing and in a well-coordinated manner so that the commissioning of the Electronic Interlocking System can be possible within the stipulated time period.
The Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of Sealdah, along with the Additional Divisional Railway Manager (ADRM/O) and Senior Divisional Safety Officer (Sr. DSO), conducted a site inspection of a non-interlocking location and counseling them. The purpose of the visit was to assess the safety measures in place and ensure smooth operations.
Officers and supervisors from the Sealdah division are reportedly maintaining round-the-clock monitoring of the site to guarantee safety and prevent any potential incidents.
Dum Dum Junction Electronic Interlocking has a Distributed Architecture with one Central and 5 No. EI ( Electronic Interlocking) Huts have 344 routes. The Operation will be done with a dual 85-inch VDU ( Video Display Unit), and the System operation time is less than 5 Seconds for the largest route. State-of-the-art Multi Section Digital Axle Counter (MSDAC) is used for track detection in the yard. OFC-based communication between Central and EI Huts and also between MSDAC Evaluators. Fault diagnosis Computer provided for Electronic Interlocking and MSDAC. An automatic fire alarm and Automatic fire suppression system are installed. Data loggers are installed for fault diagnosis. Earth leakage Detectors are installed for the detection of cable faults. All these features will improve operational flexibility, and safety in train operation and also will lead to better traffic management at Dum Dum Jn.
The work of installation of this modern signaling system requires 52-hour Non-Interlocking work at Dum Dum junction, commencing from 00:00 hrs on 16.03.2024 until 04:00 hrs on 18.03.2024. Safe and timely completion of work within the stipulated time frame will cause regulation of train services passing through Dum Dum during this period of work. Accordingly, some train services will be regulated/short-terminated/cancelled in the suburban sections over the Sealdah- Barrackpore/Naihati section and Sealdah- Dum Dum Cantonment section. There will be no EMU movement between Dum Dum & Kolkata stations, with limited services continuing between Tala & Majherhat Circular sections. Over the Sealdah Division, a total of 749 EMU trains will run out of 892 trains, and all Sealdah – Bangaon and Sealdah – Krisnanagar Matrubhumi locals will run as general trains. Out of 892 EMU services in Sealdah Division, only 143 EMUs i.e. 37% will remain cancelled, and 46 will be short-terminated at Dum Dum Cantonment station.
Only 3 non-reserved Mail/Express will remain cancelled for this work. (12383/84 Sealdah- Asansol – Sealdah Intercity Express 13177/78. Sealdah- Jangipur – Sealdah Express on 16 March and 13179/80 Sealdah-Suri – Sealdah Express will remain cancelled on 16 & 17 March 2024).
Passenger train services will be operational with no cancellations. Train services in the Sealdah South section will also remain unaffected.
Shri Kausik Mitra, Chief Public Relations Officer/Eastern Railway said that the Electronic Interlocking at Dum Dum Jn will have 344 routes in comparison to 226 routes in the existing Route Relay Interlocking, which will increase possible movements in the yard and the yard capacity. Distributed architecture is easy to maintain and fast in operation. VDU operation and fast system response time will increase operation efficiency. Multi Section Digital Axle Counter (MSDAC) based track detection will eliminate dependency on parameters of ballast, glued joint, liners, etc, and will not fail during the rainy season. With Centralized monitoring and fault diagnosis, preventive action can be taken and failure rectification time can be reduced.
