Fog disrupts train service; 30 arriving late, 10 cancelled, 6 rescheduled

NEW DELHI: The Winter season continues to disrupt rail traffic in north India.

30 Delhi-bound trains were arriving late, six were rescheduled and 10 cancelled due to low visibility and operational reasons on Monday.

With the winter season setting in, parts of north India have been experiencing dense fog leading to disruption in the functioning of Indian Railways.

Every year the fog severely disrupts train services in the Winter season, causing much inconvenience to passengers.

All north-bound trains get delayed for hours due to poor visibility during foggy weather, causing a ripple effect on the congested network. The dense fog forces drivers to slow down train speeds up to 15 kmph as a safety requirement — resulting in delays ranging between four and 22 hours.

Rattled by the massive disruption in services year after year in winter, the railways has initiated several steps to use technology to fight fog. The steps include a Train Protection Warning System (TPWS), a Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), and a Terrain Imaging for Diesel Drivers (Tri-NETRA) System, with the latest one being LED fog lights to improve visibility so that drivers can maintain normal speeds.

The Tri-NETRA system enables the driver to view the terrain on a computer installed in the cabin. However, all these systems are in the pilot stage. As for the LED fog lights, the Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) of the railways is currently finalising their specifications on these. The railways expects that once these systems are installed, it will help in enhancing the vision of locomotive drivers in difficult weather conditions, such as fog, heavy rains and during the night time so that they have enough time to react to an emergency.