New signaling system for Kolkata Metro

The Railway Board has finally given the nod for upgradation of the Kolkata Metro’s signaling system. This proposed project took quite a while to be approved by the board. Once the new signaling system is installed for operations, the frequency in arrival of trains will reduce, hence solving the problem of overcrowding. The Kolkata Metro officials aim to reduce the time between arrivals of two trains to 90 seconds. The time gap between two trains currently varies from 5 to 10 minutes, or at the most 150 seconds in case of rush hours. Officials think that if trains arrive in very less time intervals, the issue of overcrowding and safety could be well managed. The current signaling system will be replaced by communication-based train control and signaling system which will increase the frequency of the arrival of metro trains. Modern signaling system, sufficient number of rakes and substations are the major factors that increases the frequency of trains and this new signaling system after getting installed will increase the train frequency for Kolkata Metro and also do away with major overcrowding and safety issues. A Kolkata Metro Official said, “A major technical bottleneck has been cleared, though on paper. The process to increase the frequency will take a few years”.