Vision 2020 - Transportation Research Group of India

Government of India
Ministry of Railways
(Railway Board)
(c) Rail Panels
Rails will be procured in long panels of 120 metres and would be welded in flash-butt plants and laid with
lengths ranging from 250 mtrs to 500 mtrs. Such continuously welded rails would eliminate a large
number of rail joints and, in turn, would improve rail metallurgy (i.e. minimal residual stress, higher wearresistance,
higher elongation and better fracture toughness), maintenance and riding comfort. Corrosionresistant
rails shall also be provided in corrosion-prone areas. Joints will be welded in situ by portable
flash butt welding plants and in exceptional circumstances by SKV Thermit welding. Rail life will be
extended by rail grinding and rail lubrication. Improved types of switch expansion joints (SEJ) would be
used in place of the conventional switch expansion joints.
(d) Maintenance
Cost effective options for mechanized track maintenance, including by remote satellite control, shall be
explored. There will be complete mechanization of track maintenance activities. A decision support
system such as Track Management System (TMS) will be in place to optimize material, machine and
equipment and manpower inputs for track recording-cum- monitoring on the entire IR network (including
USFD cars capable of recording precisely the location of track irregularities). Suitable techniques for data
mining will be developed so that track maintenance philosophy shifts from present “find and fix” to
“measure and predict.” Permanent-way engineers shall also be provided with PDAs for recording
inspection inputs.
All the maintenance and construction activities related to track shall be mechanized. Trackmen will be
equipped with small track machines also. Rail Mounted vehicles (RMV)/Rail-cum-road vehicles would be
increasingly used to facilitate movement of maintenance units.
All the maintenance units will have communications from worksites in block sections to the control offices.
Maintenance blocks shall be taken by P-way and Bridge Engineers through mobile phones by software
encoding. Integrated assured blocks shall be made available so that a culture of zero defect and “no
surprises” exists during operation of trains.
Human dependence in the form of push trolley inspection, foot-plating, patrolling, etc. for detection of
flaws and deficiencies in track parameters will be eliminated. It is envisaged that by 2020, the health
monitoring of assets should be completely mechanized.
Vehicle mounted USFD would be stabilized by 2020 to achieve a sharp reduction in the number of rail
fractures and increased reliability of assets.
(e) Bridges
Condition of bridges shall be monitored through a Bridge Management System. All new bridges will be on
ballasted deck suitable for long-welded rails (LWR) and machine maintenance. Deflection settlement
monitoring sensors will be fixed on all important bridges to directly transmit data to computers. New
bridges and bridges on dedicated freight corridors and high speed lines will have approach slabs.
Retrofitting of bridges (particularly arch- bridges) would be taken up.
9 Infrastructure (Electrical)
a) Energy-efficient, train power supply with LED lighting would be developed to improve energy efficiency.
Energy conservation measures such as energy conservation building code (ECBC) would be adopted.
b) 2X25 KV system of overhead supply would be provided in high density routes.
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