NEW DELHI (Metro Rail News): Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC) to install new equipment in its trains to monitor the health of train, which will detect faults in the major components of the rake and trigger an alarm.
The new equipment would make maintenance of metro trains more scientific and less dependent on manual intervention.
Mr. S. S. Joshi, director, rolling stock, DMRC said: “We are moving from time-based maintenance of trains to condition-based maintenance,”. He explains, at present different components of a train have a fixed maintenance schedule, during which they are checked.
Although, DMRC wants to place a system where components at risk of developing a glitch could be detected as early as possible and rectified,” he added.
“We are going to install special equipment in trains to monitor the health of systems so that maintenance can be optimised,” the director said. Primarily the major components that this on-board equipment will monitor are bearings, wheels, springs, suspensions, etc.
“This equipment will also ensure that we don’t do unnecessary maintenance where it is not required,” he added. Currently, all trains are microprocessor controlled and the latest equipment that DMRC plans to install will make the whole system more state-of-the-art.
“If any component is faulty, we will get information about the fault in advance thanks to the new equipment,” Joshi said. The on-board health monitoring equipment will also constantly keep a check on different on-board systems and components.
“For instance, some equipment will be able to gauge overheating of a component and will generate an alarm, and if needed, the train would be withdrawn from service,” the director explained.
Joshi said that the new equipment will also monitor the air-conditioning inside the rakes. “In a six-coach train, if two air conditioners are not working the train can still be operated but with our latest on-board equipment, this information will immediately go to the Operations Control Centre,” he said.
this is DMRC in house solution or else who is providing this solution to DMRC..?