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| Sunday, 4 September 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Digital integrated telecom system for SLR By U. C. Nimal Fernando (CEng., Consultant,Retired CSTE,SLR.) In 1983 Sri Lanka Railways (SLR) implemented the islandwide Radio-Communication Project, UHF/VHF multi channel analogue system for train controlling, and doing away with the overhead wire omnibus telephone system.
At present, the voice communication radio system is defunct, outdated and could not be maintained in good order due to lack of spare parts from the OEM Company - ABB of Switzerland from 1993. Today SLR is at an important junction like so many other railways were, to decide which type of communication modernisations they should undertake to circumvent the prevailing increase in failures and assure the safety of the commuters, goods, running staff and infrastructures of the railway. By taking into consideration the experience of other railways worldwide, SLR is proposing to lay a Fibre Optic Cable (FOC) along the railway tracks as the backbone network of a new digital integrated telecommunication system. This is a mobile communication system exclusively for the SLR train communication from the railway stations and the train control offices. SLR is planning to lease out the extra fibres of the FOC to other service providers, Government institutions and Boards. The three International Unions of Railways (UIC) experts Klaus Konrad, Chairman of the UIC GSM-R (Global System for Mobile Communication - Railway) project Hans Bier, Telecom expert and former Chairman GSM-R project in Germany and Peter Hans Fischer, Chairman GSM-R project in Austria have recommended that SLR should deploy the well proven GSM-R technology for the railway mobile communications system. They categorically said that the GSM-R technology is well advanced and have been implemented in most modern railways well over a decade showing the expected stability to be the bearer for the railway mobile communication needs. It will prove to be valid with far reaching immediate effects in a few decades to come. Their presentations gave the full information about the specifications and standard for GSM-R. The actual position it has gained with the modern railways in Europe and worldwide due to the very attractive features and fast responses required for railway communication. They gave the full information of the available technologies like CDMA and compared them with GSM-R. Konrad stated that GSM-R follows the main stream of GSM and is therefore an upto date technology which is flexible and stable. It has been deployed as way back as 1994 with the railways and proven to be very efficient. It covers the railway needs and is a bearer service for actual and future applications. It is now an accepted worldwide phenomenon with the mobile railway communications. Mr. Fischer stated that GSM-R can be implemented in stages according to the requirements of the railways as it is a modular system. The full range of railways features can only be provided within a GSM-R network, although public GSM operations could allow a railway to build a virtual private network and to start with some basic functionality. Mr. Bier gave a lengthy explanation regarding the differences between GSM-R and CDMA systems. He concluded that even if CDMA would develop the full functions, they would not be available, tested and validated within the next decade. He categorically said that at present there is no railway which has yet approved such functionally with a CDMA system. He reiterated that the railways communications is far different from the public telecommunications, as it is a speciality which should assure the safety of the train loads of commuters, train running staff, freight and the infrastructures of the railway. In Sri Lanka, TRC issues license to CDMA technology for the land telephones and GSM technology for the mobile phones. In due course TRC will have to consider giving license to SLR for the GSM-R technology. Logically if over one hundred or more domestic/commercial telephones are out of order, there will not be any danger to life and limb until they are put right even in a few days time. But if a section of the railway communication system or a telephone of a railway station is out of order, it could bring disastrous results, like head on collision of trains, derailments, etc bringing danger to the life of the train travelling public, running staff, freight and the infrastructures of the railway. For example, if SLR had the new communication system along the Coast Line commissioned and in good working order before December 26, 2004, the worlds' worst train disaster which killed over 1,300 commuters at Peraliya could have been averted. Due to the safety aspects of the system, as accepted, dedicated frequency bands for the GSM-R system have been exclusively reserved in the frequency bands spectrum for the railway communications internationally. This will avoid any interference from other users of the communication systems at large. The primary function of the railway telecommunications has been and will continue to be to support the safe working of trains, the signalling or train control function. The communications network also supports other train operations, business applications in freight and passenger markets, safety response and security. As the present analogue communication system is defunct and no original spare parts are available to maintain it., the proposed new Digital Integrated Telecommunication System for the SLR should be implemented as early as possible for the safety of the train travelling public, freight, running staff of the trains and the infrastructures of the railway. The new FOC backborne network will pave the path to make money by the SLR by leasing out the extra fibres as adopted by a number of railways worldwide by commercialising the venture. SLR could have a number of case studies on this as some railways are making more money out of their communications network, than by selling the train ride tickets and carrying freight. The experience of those railways shows that the project cost could be covered up in a few years time giving more independence to utilise the accrued funds in due course for the other railway improvements without depending from the Treasury coffers annually. The long felt modernisation plans of SLR could be undertaken in stages to par with the other modern railways and to bring back the glorious past it had in the post independence era for clean passenger carriages, to maintain punctuality of trains, to introduce more express intercity trains it had and to improve safe travelling. It will help to bring down the congestions on the road today by encouraging the people to travel more by trains, to take away the strains of travelling in buses, vans and cars to avoid the ever increasing traffic snarls. By subsidising the freight charges, bulk goods and regular freight could be undertake by SLR improving the intermodal system by introducing more hubs establishing to decentralise the containerise cargo. By implementing the proposed new Digital Integrated Telecommunication System of SLR, after paying off the loans, from the accrued funds in due course it will help to buy the most needed items to rehabilitate all the tracks (rails, sleepers, fasteners, etc) periodically and maintain them in good working order to run the trains at 120 kph as planned. Purchase the passenger coaches, locomotive engines to haul the long distance trains, Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) to intensify the sub-urban train service., taking action to modernize the over forty five years old Ericsson Colour Lights Signal system without any burden to the Treasury. UIC have recommended implementating this on a Business Plan, to be
implemented by the Ministry of Railway Transport and the Sri Lanka Railways
to bring about a new era for this essential service and save this national
asset. It is easy to ask to close down some existing lines, but very hard to
find the solutions how it could be maintained profitably without infusing
new thinking. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
Although it was only for voice communications, at that time it was felt
as a very big leap forward implemented by making use of some of the SLT
infrastructure (repeater station towers emergency power supplies, etc) which
helped to float the project economically. 
