The cases of burning trains, which have haunted the railways for long, may soon be history. The railways has begun installing a system which will stop the trains automatically after detection of smoke and fire. Trials for the system in Bhubaneswar Rajdhani, which actually averted two fire tragedies so far, has emboldened the railways to install it in other Rajdhani trains.
“The Very Early Warning Smoke Detection System (VEWSD) has provision of interfacing with the air brake system of the coaches so that in the event of fire alarm, trains get stopped , allowing passengers to dis-embark without panic,” an internal note of the railways has stated.
The railways notes that fire in coaches become deadly as it spreads due to the train running full speed, with passengers not getting chances to exit. “As a significant step, Indian railway has developed fire and smoke detection system in coaches. The system is capable of checking and giving alarm during initial stages of fire, thereby giving valuable time for passengers to shift to safe areas and also evacuation,” the internal note maintains.
Thirty two passengers had died after the fire raged in the Tamil Nadu Express in July 2012, which later on was blamed on the people carrying fire prone materials with them by an enquiry report.
But as a way forward, the railways put the VEWSD to trials on Bhubaneswar Rajdhani this year and so far it has actually averted two fire incidence when fire was detected in two coaches. “The Rail Coach Factory (RCF) has recently installed this system on one more rake of LHB Rajdhani and has been handed over to the Northern railways. After the Bhubaneswar Rajdhani, the next train to have this system would be Ranchi Rajdhani,” said a senior official of the railways.
There are four alarm levels called “alert”, “action”, “fire-1” and “fire-2”. The railways has further improved the system and now in the event of “fire-2” alarm, train gets stopped before hooter is sounded, which will ensure passengers to de-board the train, added the internal note. The railways is gearing up to install the system in more trains this year.