The Modi Government has approved the allotment of a five MHz Spectrum in 700 MHz frequency band to Indian Railways for public safety and security services at stations and trains.

Indian Railways has envisaged providing Long Term Evolution (LTE) based Mobile Train Radio Communication on its route with this spectrum. The estimated investment in the project is more than Rs 25,000 Crore, and the project will be completed in the next five years.

In addition to this, Indian Railways has approved Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), an indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) System, which will help avoid train collisions, thereby reducing accidents and ensuring passenger safety.

“It brings a strategic shift in Railways’ operations and maintenance regime. It will help in improving the safety and increasing the line capacity to accommodate more trains using the existing infrastructure,” the Ministry of Railways said.

“The modern rail network will result in reduced transportation cost and higher efficiency. Also, it will attract multinational industries to set up manufacturing units to fulfill the ‘Make in India’ mission and generate employment,” the ministry added.

The purpose of the LTE for Indian Railways is to provide secure and reliable voice, video and data communication services for operational, safety and security applications.

It will be used for modern signalling and train protection systems and ensure seamless communication between loco pilots and guards. It will also enable the 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.