Colour coding signal wires helped reduce failures on CR by 25-30%

Around April-May, to identify the reasons behind the signal failures, the authorities went to inspect signalling systems like the signal poles, relay rooms and other paraphernalia

Mumbai: In the last two months, the Central Railway (CR) has taken up the work of decluttering and realigning the jumbled signal wires to reduce signal failures. Sources said they are now identifying each wire for red, yellow and green signals and to form a ‘colour tree’ inside. From an average of 100-120 signal failures every month, the colour-coding of these wires has helped drop signal failures by 25-30%. On a monthly average, there are around 100-120 signal failures.

Each signal pole has 20-24 wires bundled inside a small space of a signal. (Hindustan Times)

Around April-May, to identify the reasons behind the signal failures, the authorities went to inspect signalling systems like the signal poles, relay rooms and other paraphernalia. During the inspection, they found the wires were jumbled up and entangled. These wires in the signal poles communicate with the tracks and relay rooms, thus controlling the movement of trains.

“The staff was advised not to open the signal box and clean the wires as it can affect the connections. We then decided to do away with this jungle of wires and realign the wiring in a colour-coded format,” explained a senior CR official.

The official further explained that wires meant for red, yellow and green colour aspects of the signal had separate bunchs of wires properly taped. Once taped, they were properly inserted with each signal aspect. According to CR officials, this is being done as a measure to reduce cases of signal failures.

“This helped us bring down the number of signal failures. In about a month, we will realign the wiring of the signals on the entire suburban network. This is one of the measures that helped us reduce failures in signals,” said another official.

Each signal pole has 20-24 wires bundled inside a small space of a signal. “The colour of these cables has been coded based on the signal it conjoins,” said a CR official.

The colour-coding of the wires was started after a recent rail accident in which the signal was shown yellow to the driver. However, on the panel in the control room, it was displaying a red colour, leading to the accident. In case of any signal failure, the signal goes red, after which the train services get affected. Until it is fixed, the trains must go slow at less than 10 kmph. On average, it takes 30-45 minutes to rectify the problem.