India will soon witness a massive transition from conventional railway signalling systems. Bharat Electronic Limited (BEL) has signed an agreement with Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC) to jointly develop an indigenous communication based train control system (i-CBTC).

i-CBTC is being developed for the first time in India. This will enable unmanned operations of metro and trains. It is a big leap forward in the field of metro and rail automation and will give a boost to the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ mission of the Government of India.

The project is being carried out under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India. The MoU aims at leveraging the complementary strengths and capabilities of BEL and DMRC.

“It is a major step towards the development of an indigenously built signalling system in India and a big step towards achieving self reliance in Metro Signalling and Train Control Systems. This will facilitate and foster innovation, enhance local skill, reduce deployment cost of Metros and lead to evolution of expertise within the country in the field of train control signalling systems”, DMRC mentioned in a communique.

According to a report published in the Business Insider, India manages the fourth largest national railway system with a total route length of 68,103 km as of March 31, 2022. Indian Railways is the largest rail network in Asia and the world’s second largest under one management.

i-CBTC is a modern communication based system that uses radio communication to transfer timely and accurate train control information. Taking the big leap forward in the field of automation, the system will enable unnamed operations of metro and trains.

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