Wi-Fi Based Signalling in Railways

Abstract: The proposed system is an alternative to the conventional hardware section of the interlocking and signalling methodologies adopted by Indian Railways, which are largely composed of relays and cables. In this paper, sensors, controllers and Wi-Fi modules, made to work in an integrated fashion to replace these otherwise inefficient (both in terms of energy and space) systems is presented. The presence of trains in railway tracks, detected by sensors, is used to control the railways signals, via microcontrollers. Further, this information is used to switch the siding tracks and level crossing gates through various motors. The utility of microcontrollers in this area also warrant several other additional features like pre-acknowledging loco pilots about upcoming signals, stopping the trains directly from control rooms in case of emergency, etc., which also adds to the security aspect of the entire system.

Keywords: Indian Railways; signalling; interlocking; energy efficiency; safety factors in railway; embedded systems.