Indian Railways‘ Ghaziabad-Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay section has become the nation’s longest fully Automatic Block Signalling (ABS) section. The 762 km long route has been fully automated. With its implementation, the increase in line capacity to run more train services will become possible. The Railways has planned to implement the project on existing high density train routes.
The railways has adopted the ‘Electronic Interlocking’ to derive benefits of digital and modern technologies in train operation and to enhance safety.
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The Indian Railways has rolled out the ‘Automatic Block Signalling’ on a mission mode. The ABS is a cost effective solution.
As on December 31, 2022, the ABS has been provided on 3,706 route km across different zones.
In the financial year 2022-23, the ABS has been commissioned on 268 route km. During this financial year, the Electronic Interlocking systems have been provided at 347 railway stations. As of December 2022, 45.5 percent of railway stations i.e. nearly 2,888 stations have been provided with Electronic Interlocking systems.
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Significance of Automatic Block Signalling
The Automatic Block Signalling (ABS) helps to control the movement of the trains by the automatic stop signals. These signals are operated automatically by the passage of trains into and out of the automatic signalling sections. The system helps to increase the line capacity without construction of any additional stations.
The government is making record investments to modernise the railway infrastructure in the country. Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has linked reforms in the Indian Railways with the development of the country. In this regard, the government has also increased the budget allocation to the Railways. In the FY 2022-23, the highest ever budget allocated was Rs 2,45,800 crores. In 2020-21, Rs 1,55,181 crores was allocated in the budget while between 2014-19, about Rs 99,178 crores was allocated to Railways.
