Lalu Prasad to inaugurate Signalling Conference

New Delhi, Oct 5 (UNI) Railway Minister Lalu Prasad will inaugurate the two-day Second International Railway Signalling and Telecommunication Systems Conference, which gets under way here tomorrow.

Around 500 delegates from Indian and foreign railways will participate in the seminar-cum-exhibition, which has cost-effective solutions and line capacity augmentation as its theme.

''The exhbition will showcase train protection and warning systems, digital excel counters, incremental train control system, train actuated warning device and other latest similar technologies,''RailTel Managing Director K K Bajpayee told reporters here today.

The participating members include the European Commission, Switzerland, Sweden, Japan, the US, Russia and Spain.

Minister of State for Railways R. Velu is also slated to address the conference.

''The focus of the event is not to find ways to augment the speed of Indian trains but to increase the line capacity which will allow more trains to move on a section through better signalling and telecommunication facility,'' he said.

Mr Bajpayee pointed out the maximun speed limit of Indian trains cannot exceed more than 160 km in view of the existing infrastructure facility.

The fastest Indian train at present is Delhi-Agra Shatabdi train, which runs at a speed of 140 km.

''But even a train running at a speed of 160 km is not considered a high-speed train in the railway parlance. It should be over 2503-300 km per hour,'' he said.

''In India, such a situation cannot be visualised in the forseeable future. But we can definitely augment the capacity of trains runing on a particular section by improving signalling and telecommunication facilities,'' he said.

Mr Bajpayee said the conference would serve an opportunity for the Indian Railways to learn about the latest technology in the area and its possible adaptation.

UNI/SKS AK HT1937