New Delhi. After the Kanchenjunga Express accident near New Jalpaiguri station in West Bengal a day ago, questions have started arising about signaling. According to the chairperson of the Railway Board, the loco pilot has ignored the signaling system. Everyone understands the green and rail signals installed along the railway track, but 99% people will not know the meaning of yellow and double yellow signals. AnyTV Hindi spoke to Pradeep Kumar, retired member infrastructure of the Railway Board, regarding the signaling system.
Pradeep Kumar said that signals are installed at different distances in high speed and normal tracks. The tracks where Shatabdi, Rajdhani, Tejas, Vande Bharat, Express trains operate are called high speed tracks. Here the signals are installed two km before the home signal. The home signal where the train has to be stopped can be a station, halt or normal track.
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(On the other hand, on a normal track, the signals start one km before the home signal. Although one km is sufficient for the train to stop, on a high speed track, the signals start two km before the home signal to be extra cautious.
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If the home signal of a train is green and the one before it is single yellow, it means that the loco pilot has to slow down the speed. It is possible that the train can be stopped at the home signal. If there is no change in the route, then the train can go through the home signal without stopping.
At times, double yellow lights are lit on the signals placed on the side of the track. This means that the train has to be sent to the loop line. This makes the loco pilot understand that the train has to be taken to the loop line and he reduces the speed of the train. While going to the loop line, the speed of the train should be 30 km per hour. And in this way the second train is taken through the main line. After this train passes, the home signal becomes red. When it is confirmed that the train that left the main line has reached the next station. After this the red signal becomes green again.
If the signal before the home signal is green then…
If the signal before the home signal is green, it means that the train has to go straight through and it can go at its full speed. Generally there are two main lines and two loop lines. The trains which have to go straight, they leave from the main line and at that time if any other train is on the main line, then it is sent to the loop line. For this, a double yellow signal is given. But before sending the train to the loop line, it is ensured that no other train is standing in the loop line.
Tags: Indian Railways, Indian Railway news, train accident
FIRST PUBLISHED : June 18, 2024, 10:39 IST