Mumbai, July 7 -- Indian Railways has approved the replacement of relay-based interlocking with Electronic Interlocking (EI) at 20 locations in the Malda Division of Eastern Railway, sanctioning Rs 274 crore (2.74 bn) for the work.
The programme covers 18 railway stations and two Intermediate Block Signalling (IBS) locations on High Utilisation Network (HUN) routes and was cleared as part of efforts to strengthen signalling safety and modernisation on one of the corridor's busiest stretches.
The scheme will replace existing Relay Room and Panel Interlocking systems with EI technology to centralise and automate route setting and signalling functions.
Electronic Interlocking is an advanced fail-safe signalling technology that substantially reduces the risk of equipment failures and human error, while enabling faster restoration during faults and simplified maintenance.
The upgraded systems will provide improved operational flexibility and maintainability across the covered locations and are intended to reduce service disruptions and support enhanced punctuality for both passenger and freight trains on HUN routes.
The intervention is expected to strengthen train safety and improve the corridor's capacity to handle growing traffic volumes, including peak period flows, and will provide better readiness for integration with future systems such as Kavach and other modern signalling platforms.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Construction World.