Indian Railways to eliminate all Unmanned Level Crossings on Broad Gauge

It is the  endeavour of  Railways to eliminate all unmanned level crossings(UMLCs) in a phased manner  by either of the following:

• Closure – Closing unmanned level crossings having NIL/Negligible Train Vehicle Unit (TVU).
• Merger – Merger of unmanned level crossing gate to nearby manned or unmanned gates or subway or Road Under Bridge (RUB) or Road Over Bridge (ROB) by construction of diversion road.
• Provision of Subways/ RUBs
• Manning – Phased manning of unmanned level crossings which cannot be  eliminated by abovemeans.

            Ministry of Railways has announced a specific sub-mission to eliminate all unmanned level crossings on Broad Gauge in next 3-4 years.

Research Designs and Standards Organization (RDSO) is developing vandal proof rugged Train approach based warning system for unmanned L.C. Gates in association with IIT/Kanpur and Space Application Centre /Ahmedabad. Besides, various measures taken by Indian Railways to prevent accidents at unmanned level crossings are as under:

• Social awareness campaigns to educate road users with the use of various print and electronic media for observance of safe practices prescribed in Motor Vehicle Act and Indian Railways Act and joint ambush checks along with civil police to counter misadventure in front of approaching trains.
• SMS Campaigns to create awareness amongst road users.
• Zonal Railways have also been advised to deploy Gate Mitras/Gate Counselors at identified vulnerable unmanned level crossings to counsel the road vehicles users for observance of safe practice while negotiating unmanned level crossings.

Safety is accorded the highest priority by Indian Railways and all possible steps are undertaken on a continual basis including upgradation of technology to prevent accidents and to enhance safety. These include complete track circuiting of stations, Axle Counter for Automatic clearance  of  Block Section Counters (BPAC), Electrical/Electronic Interlocking System, Interlocking of Level Crossing Gates, Auxiliary Warning System (AWS), Vigilance Control Device (VCD) in locomotives, Colour Light LED Signals,  Train Protection Warning System (TPWS), Train Collision Avoidance System(TCAS),  Fog Safe Device (FSD), use of 60kg rails and Pre-stressed Concrete Sleepers, long rail panels, better welding technology in the tracks,  digital types of machines for Ultrasonic Flaw Detection (USFD), electronic monitoring of tracks using Track Recording Cars (TRC) and portable Oscillation Monitoring System (OMS), progressive use of Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches, Centre Buffer Couplers in Integral Coach Factory (ICF) design coaches, Remote Monitoring and Management of  Locomotives and Trains (REMMLOT), Air Conditioning (AC) of locomotive cabs, Installation of video/voice recording system on locomotives.

Enhancement in technology in Indian Railways is a continuous process. The above mentioned technologies are being proliferated in Indian Railways progressively depending upon codal life of equipments and availability of resources, traffic density of routes etc.