Eastern Railway prepares for winter season with fog safety measures
Kolkata: As the winter season approaches, the Eastern Railway (ER) has rolled out comprehensive safety measures to ensure safe train operations amid foggy conditions.
As per the Railway Board instructions, ER has prioritised regular night footplate inspections to assess visibility and safety aspects in fog-prone sections. Chief loco inspectors, along with supervisors and branch officers, recently conducted footplate inspections in different sections, including Barddhaman-Rampurhat, Rampurhat-Azimganj and Howrah-Bandel-Barddhaman, to ensure readiness for the coming months, when foggy weather will reduce visibility.
Necessary steps to prepare Rail infrastructures and train crew have been implemented. Locomotives operating in fog-affected areas have been equipped with advanced fog-safe devices. These devices allow trains to safely operate at speeds of up to 75 km/h in foggy conditions, an increase from the previous 60 km/h limit. In addition, adequate supplies of detonators are in place across fog-affected zones. To further improve safety, all critical signage, including signal boards, whistle boards and level crossing gates, have been repainted with luminous yellow and black stripes to improve visibility in foggy conditions. Additionally, tail lights on trains have been upgraded to LED flashers for better tracking in low-visibility conditions.
Station masters have been instructed to conduct regular visibility checks and ensure that fog protocols are strictly followed. In areas where visibility falls below 180 metres, detonators will be placed along the tracks to signal approaching trains. Trained staff will be on hand to support fog-
signalling operations. Loco pilots have also been given specific guidelines to adhere to speed limits based on prevailing weather conditions. In situations of extreme fog, trains will operate at reduced speeds to ensure safe stopping distances. In areas with automatic signals, loco pilots will manage their speeds according to visibility and signal indications to avoid any incidents.
