Four firms to provide satellite-tech to Indian Railways for unmanned crossings: SAC director 

In order to secure all unmanned level crossings on the rail network of Indian Railways, four private firms have been selected by ISRO to provide satellite-based technology to the railways. (Representational Image)

In order to secure all unmanned level crossings on the rail network of Indian Railways, four private firms have been selected by ISRO to provide satellite-based technology to the railways. “There are about 12,000 unmanned level crossings in our country. The accidents happen because people are not aware of the approaching train. So by using the GSAT-6 (a communication) satellite, we have created a system that will alert the train driver of the approaching unmanned level crossing. At the same a hooter at the crossing will warn of the approaching train,” said Tapan Misra, director of Space Applications Centre (SAC), a major arm of ISRO.

“Currently we are experimenting this system at 20 unmanned level crossings and we have set the system up on five Rajdhani trains,” said Misra while talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of “World Space Week” organised at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Exhibition (VSSE). “We have prepared four private companies that will provide this technology to the Indian Railways. The railway network is so big that it will take 2-3 years to implement the project,” he added.

The first trial run for developing this satellite-based system was conducted in Ahmedabad ISRO scientists from Space Applications Centre (SAC) in February 2016.