Railways asks ISRO to help enable train running in foggy season

The railways on Thursday asked the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to undertake a study on how to ensure running of trains smoothly during the foggy winter season, especially in northern India.

The request was made by Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha at a function where the Railways and ISRO signed an MoU for "developing applications in the field of remote sensing and Geograhpic Information Systems".

"During the peak winter days, railways come to standstill in north India. I think such a study that will help enable run trains smoothly during peak of winter season in north India will be a big service to the country," Sinha told ISRO chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar and other senior officials in presence of Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.

"We have already requested various research organisations. But I think any such research by ISRO will be a big service. We need to undertake this," Sinha said.

Minister of State for Science and Technology Jirendra Singh too was present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Prabhu said the partnership between his ministry and the ISRO is "not a mere marriage of convenience, but a marriage of necessity" as Railways would enlist the services of ISRO for various works related to technological upgradation.

As per the MoU, the railways ministry proposes to use space technology tools in providing passenger information system in all trains indicating the next station, stoppage, real time train tracking, said an official statement.

At present railways is using space technology for providing connectivity to Passenger Reservation System counters and unreserved ticketing system.