Railways explores direct leap to 5G to revive outdated train safety systems

Kavach tender expected in two months after the proposal is fine-tuned by the Indian Railways

As the Indian Railways builds indigenous anti-collision and emergency communication systems, the Union Minister for Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, has asked the Ministry of Railways officials to explore a direct leap to fifth-generation (5G) network to revive the outdated communications infrastructure of the Indian Railways, Business Standard has learnt.

The development comes at a time when the national transporter has barely scratched the surface on 4G operations. Vaishnaw is also the union minister for communications, electronics and information technology.

“Currently, Indian Railways is conducting a proof of concept for the working of Mission Critical Voice (MCV) and Kavach on 4G. Looking at the recent activity of Indian industry for 5G technology, Railways has started exploring use of 5G technologies for its MCV and safety systems. Various stakeholders and the Indian telecom industry are being consulted in this regard,” a senior official working on the plan said. Kavach is the first indigenously built Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system.

MCV systems refer to infrastructure for voice communications between locomotive pilots and other key personnel during a critical situation. Ineffective or delayed communication in these situations would either risk safety or force halting of trains, causing major delays or mishaps in railway operations.

While the initial plan to develop this technology is slated to be implemented by 2026, the quick global deployment of 5G infrastructure and rapid advancement plans of the Indian telecom industry in the aftermath of the recent spectrum auctions have led to a rethink on the timeline, another official said, adding that the original timeline may end up creating the same technological gap that the Centre aims to bridge. “Hence, the minister has sought a plan to explore the feasibility of a direct 5G leap instead of a gradual 4G-5G shift.”

The railways, however, is facing concerns regarding the feasibility of 5G, as private operators will roll it out at mass scale later this year. Besides, various certifications for 4G deployment were granted recently, and a direct leap to 5G will require all these to be tested and recertified, said an official.

It is currently in consultation with Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT) and private telecom operators to develop technology customised for railway use. For example, one of these use cases would be handsets for loco pilots exclusively for MCV communications, with an override provision that allows MCV calls to be prioritised over all other communications happening parallelly on the network.

Current MCV and other railways communications operate on microwave technology, which is used as a short-distance, high-reliability medium. The current 4G proof of concept for Kavach aims for these to be Internet Protocol (IP)-enabled. Sources said that a lack of interoperability in these two technologies poses a challenge and therefore, further advances require parallel infrastructure to be built on an LTE framework.

Once all these minor issues are ironed out, the ministry is likely to float a tender for the deployment of Kavach in the next two-three months, the official quoted above said. The anti-collision technology, priced at Rs 40-50 lakh per kilometre, costs 25-33 per cent as compared to its European counterparts, which India had been relying on so far.

The tender is likely to be based on 4G deployment, with no immediate 5G goals. But any progress on the proposed plan could see future implementation based on 5G. The Centre aims to cover 2000 kms of tracks on the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah routes with Kavach in this financial year, with a medium-term target of 4000-5000 kms. So far, close to 1000 kms have already been covered. Apart from anti-collision and MCV systems, 5G is expected to enable Internet of Things (IoT) based remote asset monitoring, especially of coaches, wagons and locos, and live video feed of CCTV cameras in the train coaches to ensure efficient, safer and faster train operations.

Vaishnaw had done a live demonstration of Kavach in March, where two trains gave automatic warning signs when they were headed for a collision. Moreover, it automatically applies brakes if loco pilots fail to adhere to restrictions while passing Signal at Danger.

The national transporter was allotted 5 MHz spectrum in the 700 MHz band in June 2021, with a commitment to invest Rs 25,000 crore for the development of long-term evolution over the following five years.