A.S. Shankar, Chief Engineer, Signalling and Telecommunications, BMRCL

Enterprises in the transportation industry are increasingly turning to information technology (IT) solutions to bring in efficiency in their operations. These solutions have enabled them to meet signalling requirements, maintain passenger records and track vehicles on a real-time basis. Officials from leading enterprises in this space discuss their IT strategies, deployment challenges and future plans…

What are some of the IT, telecom, enterprise and mobility solutions used by your organisation? How have they helped in enhancing business performance and efficiency?

Today, IT systems are being used by every organisation to enhance operational and business processes. Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) is no exception. There are five key areas where IT technologies are used in the case of metro systems:

  • Metro operations and safety: Since running trains safely at an operational headway of about three minutes leads to many problems, metro systems primarily use key IT solutions for automatic control and supervision, which facilitate signalling and train control. The subsyst­ems, which form a part of the rolling stock, are also IT based. Apart from TETRA communication systems, fixed line telephone systems, CCTV surveillance systems and managerial information systems require IT solutions. Moreover, SCADA solutions for various parts of the metro system such as traction/auxiliary substations, signalling, telecom and tunnel ventilation, are all co-located to achieve better efficiency.
  • Passenger information and customer care: Passenger information display systems and public address systems have to provide updated information at several stations and monitor train movement on a real-time basis. Further, call cent­r­es, mobile applications for metro routes, and fare information and trip planning applications are required. To this end, BMRCL has facilitated mobile communication infrastructure on metro lines including tunnels for seamless availability of mobile signals of various telecom operators.
  • Operations and maintenance (O&M) support system: In metro systems, asset management solutions and inventory ma­­n­­agement systems are of paramount importance from the O&M perspective. The frequency of overhaul of roll­ing sto­­­­­ck, track side equipment and energy monitoring of various systems are also essential.
  • Ticketing and revenue collection: There are AFC systems that have been deployed across 40 stations of BMRCL to continuously monitor traffic and make traffic projections. There are also facilities such as web-based recharging of smart cards and automatic recharging of tickets to enable seamless travel. In addition, cash collection, and settlement with banks and other transport entities require trouble-free IT systems that are robust in design and ensure a secure environment.
  • Infrastructure monitoring and ERP: IT systems for building management, tunnel ventilation systems and environment control systems provide safety and operational conveniences, increasing the efficiency of metro operations. In addition, intranet, email and enterprise applications such as ERP are used for internal communication and achieving business process efficiency.

What are the challenges faced in managing IT and telecom infrastructure, and deploying new technologies?

The specific requirements of the metro rail system put limitations on the availability of expertise and equipment. So far, the majority of metro projects are being executed in collaboration with foreign vendors and suppliers. This makes the maintenance of equipment challenging. Fur­ther, new technologies are only adopted when they are proven to be safe as safety is of prime im­­­p­ortance for metro operators. Besides, it is challenging to monitor the performance le­vels of various staff members deployed for metro security, maint­enance and operations.

What are the key IT and telecom trends that the transportation industry is likely to witness going forward?

Although the application of IT systems in the industry will remain largely the same, most of the systems would migrate to IP-based systems and networks. The signalling system for train control has moved from the conventional “distance to go”-based mechanism to communication-based train control (CBTC). In the future, BMRCL is also planning to deploy CBTC. The system will allow operators to run trains at a lower headway of around 90 seconds as compared to the present minimum headway of about three minutes. This will require a very sophisticated wireless communication system between ground operations and moving trains. In the field of ticketing, quick response code-based and near field communication (NFC)-based mobile ticketing would be available soon. These facilities will enable passengers to travel using their mobile phones without having to carry physical tokens or cards. BMRCL also plans to introduce NFC-based mobile ticketing for its Phase II project. Further, integrated ticketing with other transport operators is under consideration. It will be a significant development and once implemented, it would drive the migration from existing systems. This would enable people to travel in any metro or bus in any city, pay toll charges or shop using a single card.