Railway ministry not keen on sharing spectrum with NCR transit system

Railways says this could lead to safety, security risks

Railway ministry not keen on sharing spectrum with NCR transit system

The railways ministry is not too keen on sharing the premium 700 Mhz spectrum, allotted to it by the Department of Telecommunications for signalling purposes, with a suburban train project coming up in the National Capital Region (NCR).

The Union ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs had asked the telecom department to allow National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) to share the 700 Mhz spectrum with the railways. While DoT agreed to this, saying spectrum should be used optimally, the railways ministry had certain reservations.

The railways’ stand stems from the belief that spectrum is scarce. “Railways had asked for 10Mhz of the premium 700 Mhz spectrum from the telecom department but was allotted only half of the desired quantity. If they share whatever they have, they won’t be able to meet their own needs,” said a former railway official.

He said this could lead to safety and security risks for the railways. “If the railways shares the same spectrum it uses, it can cause disruption in transmission, affecting the operations,” he added. 

Queries sent to the railways ministry spokesperson did not get any response. The Union government in June approved the allotment of 5 MHz spectrum in the 700 MHz frequency band to the railways for public safety and security services at stations and in trains.

The railways planned to utilise the spectrum to provide long-term evolution (LTE) based Mobile Train Radio Communication on its route. The project was estimated to cost around Rs 25,000 crore and would be completed in five years.

LTE would provide secure and reliable voice, video and data communication services for operational, safety and security applications. It would also be used for modern signalling and train protection systems and ensure seamless communication between loco pilots and guards. It would enable internet of things (IoT)-based remote asset monitoring especially of coaches, wagons and locomotives, and live video feed of CCTV cameras in the train coaches for better, safer and faster train operations.

A Cabinet decision also mandated the railways pay spectrum fee based on a formula prescribed by DoT for royalty charges and licence fee for captive use. This formula was based on the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

NCRTC, a joint venture company of the Union government and the states of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, is executing the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), a rail-based system to connect the fast developing towns in the NCR.

The goal of RRTS is to reduce the dependence of commuters on road-based transportation to a combination of road-cum-rail transportation systems.

The first corridor connecting Delhi with Meerut via Ghaziabad, Murad Nagar and Modi Nagar is scheduled to be completed by 2025. In this 82 km-long RRTS corridor, 70 km is elevated, while the remaining 12 km stretch is underground.

Most of the elevated stretch of Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor is passing through the median of Delhi Meerut road (erstwhile NH-58) and densely populated areas which have heavy traffic movement as well, the statement said.

According to the statement, around 900 piers of the elevated section with 40 km of foundation and 10 km of viaduct have already been completed.

The construction work of the superstructure of all five stations — Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Guldhar, Duhai, and Duhai depot — is in advanced stages, according to official reports. The priority section of 17 km between Sahibabad to Duhai is targeted to be commissioned by March 2023 and the full corridor by 2025.

Besides the Delhi-Meerut corridor, RRTS is also being developed from Delhi to Alwar in Rajasthan and Delhi to Panipat in Haryana.

With inputs from Twesh Mishra