The document summarizes a summer training report submitted by Chahat Bajpai to their faculty advisor at BBAU. It provides details about Chahat's summer training at the Research Designs and Standards Organization (RDSO) in Lucknow, India from June 13th to July 8th 2022. The report includes sections on the Telecom Directorate at RDSO, signaling systems used in Indian Railways, train traffic control, integrated power supply systems, passenger information systems, train collision avoidance, the RAILNET network, and reservation systems. Chahat expresses gratitude for the knowledge and experience gained during the training.

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DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION
SUMMER TRAINING REPORT OF RDSO
Department- Telecommunication
FROM:13 JUNE 2022 TO 8 JULY 2022
Report Submitted to
Mr. Naseem Khan
[Faculty, Department ECE, UIET, BBAU]
Report Submitted by
CHAHAT BAJPAI
(Roll no. 198515)
Semester-VII

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Creation of this report is Influenced by numerous persons working under the esteemed organization established by Ministry
of Railways, ROSO at Lucknow. It is an archetype of best research Centre of India. As an engineer the training experience
has explored another dimension and platform of our thinking. I would like to express our sincere gratitude to Mr. Sangeeta
Pandey (SSE Telecom) for providing administrative permission for my summer training and also igniting curiosity and
emancipating our thinking from the boundary of engineering. I am thankful to all the lab in-charge and superintendents and
with whose support and guidance the creation of report came to existence. I duly express my indebtness to Mr. Sangeeta
Pandey Jt Director Telecom for their kind support in helping me get settled in an entirely new space to work and gain. I am
very thankful to Mrs. Kamini Tewari, enhancing my technical knowledge which made the understanding of practical
concepts easy. Last, but not the least our gratitude and indebtness are also due to some unnamed persons who remained
unexpressed in words.

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S.No CONTENTS Page
No.
1. Introduction 4
2. Telecom Directorate 5
3. Signaling Used in Indian Railways 6
4. Train Traffic Control 7
5. SMPS based Integrated Power Supply 13
6. Integrated Passenger Information System 14
7. Train Collision Avoidance System
(TCAS)
20
8. RAILNET 21
9. Reservation System 23

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Railways were introduced in India in 1853 and as their development progressed through to the twentieth
century. several companies managed systems grew up. To enforce standardization and co-ordination
amongst various railway systems. the Indian Railway Conference Association (IRCA) was set up in 1903.
followed by the Central Standards Office (CSO) in 1930. for preparation of designs. standards and
specifications. However, till independence. most of the designs and manufacture of railway equipment’s
was entrusted to foreign consultants. With Independence and the resultant phenomenal increase in
country’s industrial and economic activity. which increased the demand of rail transportation - a new
organization called Railway Testing and Research Centre (RTRC) was setup in 1952 at Lucknow. for
testing and conducting applied research for development of railway rolling stock permanent way etc.
Central Standards Office (CSO) and the Railway Testing and Research Centre (RTRC) were integrated into a
single unit named Research Designs and Standards Organization (RDSO) 1n 1957, under Ministry of Railways
at Lucknow.
RDSO 1s an ISO 9001 research and development organization under the Ministry of Railways of India. which
functions as a technical adviser and consultant to the Railway Board, the Zonal Railways. the Railway
Production Units. RITES and IRCON internationally respect of design and standardization of railway
equipment and problems related to railway construction. operation and maintenance.
RDSO has a number of laboratories which are well equipped with research and testing facilities for development,
testing and design evaluation of various railway related equipment’s and materials.
RDSO works to develop safe, modern and cost-effective Railway technology complying with Statutory and
Regulatory requirements, through excellence in Research, Designs and Standards and Continual improvements
in Quality Management System to cater to growing demand of passenger and freight traffic on the railways.

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ORGANIZATION
RDSO is headed by a Director General. The Director General is assisted by Additional Director General, Sr.
Executive Directors and Executive Directors, heading different directorates. RDSO has various directorates for
smooth functioning. All the directorates of RDSO except Defense Research are located at Lucknow.
FUNCTION
RDSO is the sole R&D organization of Indian Railways and functions as the technical advisor to Railway
Board Zonal Railways and Production Units and performs the following important functions:
1.Development of new and improved designs.
2.Development.adoption, absorption of new technology for use on
Indian Railways.
3.Development of standards for materials and products specially needed
by Indian Railways.
4.Technical investigation, statutory clearances, testing and providing
consultancy services. · .
5.Inspection of critical and safety items of rolling stock, locomotives, signaling
& Telecommunicationequipment andtrack components.
Telecom Directorate in RDSO 1s engaged in the task of development and standardizations of telecom
equipment’s/systems for use on Indian Railways This multifarious taskinvolves the following activites
1.Design and development of modern Telecom equipment.
2.Standardisation of Telecom equipment and systems.
3.Adaptation & Absorption of emerging technologies’
4.Improving reliability of existing equipment.
5.Providing Technical guidance to Zonal Railways.
6.Investigating field problems referred by Railways/Railway Board.
7.Issuing installation and maintenance manuals & codes of practice.
8.Laying QA standards for equipment manufacturers & conducting

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quality audit.
9.Vendor development to ensure supply of quality material and equipment to Railways.
10.Testing and inspection of Telecom equipment.
Railway signalling (BE), also called railroad signaling (AE), is a system used to control the movement
of railway traffic. Trains move on fixed rails, making them uniquely susceptible to collision. This
susceptibility is exacerbated by the enormous weight and inertia of a train, which makes it difficult to
quickly stop when encountering an obstacle. In the UK, the Regulation of Railways Act 1889 introduced
series of requirements on matters such as the implementation of interlocked block signalling and other safety
measures as a direct result of the Armagh rail disaster in that year.
Most forms of train control involve movement authority being passed from those responsible for each
section of a rail network (e.g., a signalman or stationmaster) to the train crew. The set of rules and the
physical equipment used to accomplish this determine what is known as the method of
working (UK), method of operation (US) or safe working (Aus.). Not all these methods require the use of
physical signals, and some systems are specific to single track railways

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The Train Traffic Control in Indian Railways is the name given to the Train Operations System which is setup
specifically for the purpose of running the trains punctually and efficiently. This is achieved by closely
monitoring and controlling individual train movements and also by regulating the overall traffic movement The
Control setup is implemented on divisional basis. For this purpose, first, a Control Office is setup at the
Divisional Head Quarters and the total track area under the divisional jurisdiction is divided into smaller
segments called control sections. The movements of the train traffic in each of these control sections is
individually monitored and regulated from the control office. The control office is meant for giving necessary
directions and suggestions to the track side railway stations, signal cabins etc. in regard to the train and traffic
movements.
OBJECTIVES
Control over the movement oftrains over asection oftheRailwayis exercised round the clock and is done toachieve
the following: -
1. Cohesion inmoving train traffic
2. To avoid delay to trains and traffic
3. To effect economy in working of trains

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4. To improve thegeneral working of trains
5. To increase the efficiency in working of trains
ROLE OF TELECOM DEPARTMENT
The Communication plays an important role in control working because the means of train control is only through
the speech communication between the controller and all his way side stations. Telecom department provides the
telephone communication facility required between the Control Office and all track side Way Stations and other
agencies connected with train working. This speech communication system between the Control Office and track
side stations is known as Control Communication System.
ELEMENTS OF CONTROL
1. Control Offices
2. Way Stations
3. Communication between Control Office and Way Stations
CONTROL OFFICE
The Control office is the central place from where the movements of all the trains are controlled and regulated.
•
DMSIONAL CONTROL OFFICE· The divisional control office may be described
As thenerve center of theDivisional Operating organization which play key role in trainoperations.
AREA CONTROL OFFICE -Areas of exceptional Industrial or Commercial importance is provided with subsidiary
control offices called as Area Control.
SUB-CONTROL OFFICE - Sub control offices are provided to control a limited portion of the division,where the
traffic density and/or difficulties in providing effective communication right up to divisional control justifies separate
organization for controlling and regulating traffic.
CONTROL OFFICE EQUIPMENT
The control office equipment with DTMF signaling consists of the following:
1. DTMF Console
2. DTMF code generator·
3. Communication PCB consisting of Microphone amplifier,

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4. Head/Hand set transmitter amplifier & loudspeaker amplifier.
5. Hand set
6. Head set
7. Microphone
8. Loudspeaker
9. Hybrid attachment (required for 2-Wire operation)
10.Power supply unit
WAY STATION
The way stations are various stations intermediate between principal stations, as on arailroad.
WAY STATION EQUIPMENT
The way station equipment shall consist of DTMF decoder which can be assigned any DTMF station code/group
code selectable with DIP switches, voice communication equipment and 2-Wire/4-Wire desk type control telephone.

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SYSTEMS OF CONTROL COMMUNICATION
Based on the media used, presently the following types of control communication systems are being used inIndian
Railways.
1. Overhead Alignment Based
2. Wire Control Communication System
3. Under Ground Cable Based
4. Wire Control Communication System
a) Conventional System - Using RE Main Cable with Loading
b) Equalizer Amplifier System - Using Quad Cable Without Loading
3.OFC Based Control Communication System
FUNCTIONS OF CONTROL
The functions of the control may be best described under the following three heads.
TRAIN CONTROL - The Train Control ensures the punctual running of Mail, Express & Passenger trains and
running of Goods trains to best possible paths and with the least possible detention enroute. It arranges the running
of engineering material trains to the best possible advantage of Engineering department and Engineering and/or
Power blocks in such a way as to involve the minimum disturbances totrainrunning andprovises reliefand regulating
trains in the event of accident.

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TRAFFIC (DEPUTY) CONTROL - The Traffic Control ensures allotment and distribution of coaching and.Goods
stock in stations securing maximum utilization of rolling stock and maintaines fluidity of Marshalling yards. It regulates
traffic for fulfilling interchange commitments and securing maximum workable load for each train compatible
with the type of engine utilized and the special characteristics of the section over which the train is tobe worked.
POWER CONTROL - The Power Control requisites locomotive power i.e., Engines, direct from locomotive running
sheds for all operating requirements, viz. train working, shunting and banking to ensure the most economical use of
engine power available and return of engine to home running sheds at regular intervals for washouts and other
maintenance requirements. It also manages the traction power supply and OHE system.
CONTROL CIRCUIT
Railway Control Circuits are omnibus telephone circuits which provide communication with each train working
point, thus facilitating efficient train operation. They should provide satisfactory and reliable communication between the
controller and the various way-side stations, important signal cabins, loco sheds, yard offices etc.
TYPES OF CONTROL CIRCUIT
1.Section Control/Train Control -The Section train Control circuit is used for communication between the
Section train Controller in the control office and all wayside stations, junction stations, block cabins, loco sheds and yards
in acontrol section for thecontrol of trainmovements.
2.Deputy Control - The Deputy Control circuit is provided for communication between the Deputy Controller in the
control office and important stations, junctions & terminal stations, yard master's offices. loco sheds and important signal
cabins in a division for supervisory control of traffic operation in general.
3.Loco Power Control - The Loco Power Control circuit is provided for communication between the Loco Power
Controller in the control office and the various loco sheds, important stations and yards in a division for the optimum
utilization of the locomotives.
4.Traction Loco Control - The Traction Loco Control circuit is provided between traction loco
controller and loco sheds, important Station Master's Offices for optimum utilization of electric locomotives.
5.Traction Power Control - The Traction Power Control circuit is provided between traction power controller
and SM's Office, Sub-sectioning and Paralleling Posts (SSPs) for maintenance of OHE system in RE areas.
6.S&T Control -The S&T Control circuit is provided between test room and way stations and residences of
S&T officials for effective maintenance of S&T equipment’s.
7.Engineering Control - The Engineering Control is mainly used for controlling maintenance activities of
engineering department like track maintenance, ballast movement, line blocks etc.

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8.Remote Control - The Remote Control is meant for remote operation of 25 KV Traction equipment’s, which
works on Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Systems (SCADA) principle.
9.Emergency Control -The Emergency Control is provided from selected points along the track route for
establishing communication between train crew (in case of emergency), traction and permanent way staff with
traction power controller. (The emergency sockets are provided on rail posts at an interval of 1 Km (Max.) along
the route.)
TRAIN CONTROL CHART
The train control charting is exercised adopting graphical plotting method. In the graphical plotting method of train
control, a graphical chart for 8 hours duration is provided in which the distance is indicated on the Y-axis and the time
on X-axis.
Train denotation onchart:
a) Red: for Expresses and other top priority trains
b) Blue: for other passenger trains
c) Green: for Military specials and Fast Goods
d) Black: for other Goods trains
DUAL TONE MULTI FREQUENCY (DTMF) SYSTEMS

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In this system for every key pressed in a push button panel two frequencies are being transmitted simultaneously as per the
standard DTMF frequency plan. 2-digit codes are used to call either one station at a time or a nominated group at a time or all at
the same time Since the signaling tone is in-band (within voice band), any voice simulation and O/H line noise or line
whistles should not be recognized as a tone pulse.and that iswhy two tones, which are harmonical unrelated,are used.
INTEGRATED POWER SUPPLY
The function of Integrated Power Supply system is to provide a stable and reliable AC and DC power supply to the
Railway signaling installations against all AC mains variations or even interruptions. This is very essential for proper
movement of trains. As the name indicates, it is designed and developed with a view to provide complete power solutions
from single system to all signaling circuits. The IPS for Railway Signaling circuits shall be manufactured as per
ROSO specification No. RDSO/SPN/165/2004, Amndt. 5.
SMPS POWER PLANTS
SMPS means Switch Mode Power Supply. This is used for D.C-to-D.C conversion. This works on the principle of
switching regulation. The SMPS system is highly reliable, efficient, noiseless and compact because the switching is
done at very high rateinthe order of several KHz toMHz

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-
ADVANTAGES OF SMPS BASED IPS
1. Integration of various power supply equipment’s i.e., Battery charger, Transformer, DC-DC Converter,
Inverter and Voltage Regulator in one equipment.
2. Only one battery set of 110 V of capacity 200/300 AH is used.
3. Based on high efficiency 90% SMPS based latest technology with phase correction. Hence power factor
(PF) achieved is better than 0.9.
4. Modular in design with modules working in n+1 hot standby mode to provide redundancy and future expansion
at any time later on even in working installation by adding more modules.
5. Enhances safety in train operation by preventing blanking of signals incase of 230 VAC mainsfailureby provision
ofbuilt-in on-lineinverter inhot standby.
6. Provision of one set Class B and C Lightning and Surge protection at 230 V AC input supply isin-built.
7. Provision of continuous battery health monitoring with indication and alarms
on Status Monitoring panel with Station Master.
8. Remote monitoring of failures of modules is possible through Data logger as potential free contacts for such
failures are provided in the equipment.
9. Economy is achieved by reducing hours of DG set running in non-RE area as approx. 6 hours backup time
provided.
Information to passenger related to status of reservation, train enquiry is provided by means of Interactive Voice Response
System (IVRS), Display Boards, and Announcing Systems etc. All these systems have been integrated in to one system
called Integrated Passenger System (IPIS). This system provides a single control and common data entry for all systems.
TheIntegrated Passenger Information system consists of:
1. CCU (Control Console Unit) inredundant mode loaded with software
2. MOCH/POCH(Main/PlatformData Communication HUB)
3. SLOB (Single Line Display Board)
4. MLDB (Multiline Display Board)
5. AGDB (At a glance Display board)
6. CGDB (Coach guidance display boards)

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7. LED/LCDTV
8. PC based Announcement System
CONTROL CONSOLE UNIT (CCU)
The Control Console Unit has the provision of fully redundant console unit In case of failure of the first control console unit;
the second control console unit become operative. There is continuous data synchronization between these two operator
consoles through a LAN link. Thechangeover of video & audio signals from one control console unit to anotheristhrougha manual
switch for redundancy. This switch has two input ports for videosignals coming from two control console units and oneoutput
port that goes to the CCTV network. It also has two audio ports coming from two control console units and one output port
that goes to the audio announcement network. The control system is so designed as to work public announcement system
and the farthest indicator satisfactorily. The Control Console Unit provides PC based voice announcement. All control systems
are housed in a standard cabinet made of CRCA sheet of minimum 18 SWG thickness. The cabinet is rust free & with proper
earthing arrangement. The Keyboards & Monitors are placed inside the cabinet at appropriate height for easy and
comfortable operation. The ON/OFF button for switching on & off the control console units is provided separately. Pressing this
button system becomes switch on with auto running of software. Again, pressing this button, it closes program without
corrupting data and switch off the system. The audio output for announcement from control console unit is interfaced with
the existing public address system. Suitable hardware & software are provided in the system for taking data &required information
from automatic train information system like train charting server NTES, CDAS etc. for displaying train information on various
types of display boards coach announcement. If specified by the purchaser (optional).

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DATA COMMUNICATION HUB (DCH):
MAIN DATA COMMUNICATION HUB (MDCH) ·The Main D a t a Communication Hub routes the
signals coming from the either of the two console units to the destinations namely platform hubs,
Arrival/Departure Train Information Display Boards and Coach Guidance Display Boards. The Main Data
Communication HUB have minimum 2 serial ports for display information coming from the two console
units and at least 16 serial output ports for driving various types of display boards or platform HUBs. The
MOCH is operated by 230 Volts AC mains and have LED indications for monitoring the communication health
of the display boards and Platform Data Communication Hubs. The LED glows red when link is failed and
green when link is OK. The serial port connection to the coach guidance display boards along a line is daisy
chained and in case of a failure (like power down) of a unit, the extension of communication link is not be
affected. Also, in case of removal of any coach display board for repair,the input and output connectors are mate-
able to extend the communication link. The main Hub is able to integrate any display board or platform HUB and
get its response. With this, communication health (connectivity) of each display unit or platform HUB is
available in the control center and one can quickly diagnose the problem in case of faults. Each output port of
the MOCH is able to drive either one multiline display board or At-a-glance display board or single line display
board or platform Hub or preferably numbers of coach guidance display boards in case of failure of any port
of MOCH, the spare port can be used immed1atelyand the system starts functioning withminimum down time.
PLATFORM DATA COMMUNICATION HUB (PDCH) -The Platforms Data communication Hub

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(PDCH) routes the data coming from the MDCH to the various type display boards including coach guidance boards. The
POCH have provision of two serial ports for interfacing to Main data communication HUB (one port as a spare) and
least16 serial output ports for riving various types of display boards. The PDCH should be preferably installed on each
platform at the halfway length of the platform, to drive the various display boards. Both MOCH and POCH are
interchangeable.
DISPLAY BOARDS
SINGLE LINE DISPLAY BOARD (SLDB)-It is also called platform display board. Generally, it Is a double
face display board provided on all platforms. It displays information’s of a tram which is about to arrive or depart
from the platform on which it IS provided.
MULTI LINE DISPLAY BOARD (MLDB) -These can be either single face or doublefacedisplayboards
and are provided at the main entrance points of railway stations and sometimes on important platforms. Display size can

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be minimum 2 lines to maximum1O lines. It provides information of arriving and departing of all the trains infollowing
format.
AT A GLANCE Dl PLAY BOARD (AGDB). These are single face Display Boards used to provide
complete information about a single train at a time. The informat1_on 1s displayed in three lines. First line displays train
number, train name, train arrival/departure time and the platform number similar to MLDB/SLDB. The second and third
lines display train formation of that particular train starting from engine as given below
COACH GUIDANCE DISPLAY BOARD (CGDB) -These boards are Provided along the
length of a platform for the purpose of giving individual coach position information of a train which is about to

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arrive on that platform. CGDBs are small size double-faced display boards. These display boards are interfaced to
the control console through appropriate hub It displays only 5character/numeric at a time for display of following:
CLOSE CIRCUIT TELEVISION (CCTV) DISPLAY
The CCTV monitors display the train information similar to that displayed by a multiline displays board. Each
control console unit is having video output. The input to the CCTV will be selected by manual redundancy switch.
The CCTV monitors are either LCD or LED monitor.

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• It is India’s own automatic protection system, which is in development since 2012, under the name Train
Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), which got rechristened Kavach or “armor”.
• It is a set of electronic devices and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) devices installed in
locomotives, in the signalling system as well as the tracks.
• They connect to each other using ultra high radio frequencies to control the brakes of trains and also
alert drivers, all based on the logic programmed into them.
o TCAS or Kavach includes the key elements from already existing, and tried and tested
systems like the European Train Protection and Warning System, and the indigenous Anti
Collision Device.
o It will also carry features of the high-tech European Train Control System Level-2 in future.
• e current form of Kavach adheres to the highest level of safety and reliability standard called Safety
Integrity Level (SIL)4.
o SIL comes from two voluntary standards used by plant owners/operators to quantify safety
performance requirements for hazardous operations.
o There are four SIL Levels (1-4). A higher SIL Level means a greater process hazard and a
higher level of protection required.

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o In the new avatar, India wants to position Kavach as an exportable system, a cheaper alternative
to the European systems in vogue across the world.
RAILNET is the name of the corporate wide information system of the Indian railways. Railnet is an intranet
created for the administrative and organizational information need of Indian railways this is a general-purpose network
provided to all important users irrespective of their departments it provides computer connectivity between railway board
zonal railway division, production units, CTIs RAILNET is implemented in 3 phases. In the 1st
phase all zonal railway
and production units were connected with the railway board by IRCOT (Indian Railway Central Organization of telecom.
In the 2nd
phase all division are connected with their zonal HQsand all CTI i.e., RSC, IRISET, IRICEN IRIMEE, IRIEEN,
AND RDSO, CORE and, METRO railways are connected to railnet from the nearest zonal HQ.
.

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OBJECTIVES
1.1nformation on demand · Transferring of files electronically, quickly and efficiently instead of paper
documents.
2.Internet facility · Internet gateways have been established at Delhi,
Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata by RCIL. Authorized users can access the internet through RAILNETeitherfrom
officeor from residence.
3.E-Mail facility - Official E-mail IDs are provided to important officials. The mail system is available on railnet as well
as internet via the URLhttp://wmail.railnet.gov.in
e.q.ankur.ssetele@rdso.railnet.gov.in
Vide policy No. RBtele 4/2011, all official e-mails must be sent and received through official e-mail ID
provided inrailnet.gov.indomain.
1. Hosting of Internet websites of respected Railways may be hosted since Railnet only has internet facility.
.
2. Peer to peer network and client-server architecture Rail net users can access each other by sharing their resources.
Department scan maintain their own intranet /Internet servers separately for their users.
3. Activities of accident spots can be viewedthroughART VSATs from Railnet.
4. TCAS logs can be viewed through railnet.
5. VoIP communication system.
6. IPbased Surveillance systems can be monitored form any location of Railnet.
RAILNET HARDWARE
1. Compaq Server Compaq ProLiant 1600R Rack Mounted.
2. Cisco Router Cisco 3640 and Cisco 2610.
3. Switches Cisco Catalyst 2924 XL with 22 10/100MbpsRJ45 port and 2 FX (optical fibre) ports.
4. Modem RAD V.3564kbps modems.
RAILNET SOFTWARE
1. Windows NT Server 4 as the Network OS.
2. IIS 4.0as the Web and FTP Server2.

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PASSENGER RESERVATION SYSTEM
The pilot project consisting of a few trains was implemented at New Delhi in 1985 by joint e f f o r t s of CRIS and
CMC. Then, there was no looking back. The Passenger reservation system was given the name integrated Multi-
train Passenger Reservation System (IMPRESS) which could handle the functional requirements of reservation,
enquiry, accounting and charting. It also had backup and recovery facilities. The entire PRS system was
based on five stand-alone systems (New Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai and Secunderabad). Other stations
were connected as remote terminals to the existing five computer systems for accessing the entire database of host
Computer. But with stand-alone architecture.it isnot possible to do a reservation at a terminal from databases in two
different host computers. There was a provision of remote terminals from more than one host computer to partially
take care of this but that meant passenger had to stand inmore queues. This one-to-one communication and linkage reduced
the overall efficiency of the system and led to the development of single image system called CONCERT (Countrywide
Network of Computerized Enhanced Reservation). It is one-to- many communications thus requiring less process time.
In the first phase of CONCERT implementation. IMPRESS software version at the two stand-alone PRS systems
(Secunderabad and New Delhi) which later got extended to other systems. After the full-scale implementation,
requirement of communication channels came down, as there was no need to extend circuits for connecting remote terminal
to particular PRS location only, as every terminal became universal. It also added multiple lap functionality resulting
inbetter customer service.
IMPRESS was developed inthe language of FORTRAN and consisted of some 2700 subroutines. Then CONCERT was
developed in open VMS platform in C (about 70%) and FORTRAN language using a flat file system.It was based on 3-
tier client server architecture using RTR (Reliable Transaction Router) as middleware. RTR software along with router
hardware provides the backbone for message routing feature for WAN (Wide Area Network).Client server architecture is
used to achieve easy hardware expansion ability in future. This type of 3-tier architecture is common feature of railways
system like FOIS also. It is currently hosted on state-of-the-art converged infrastructure (64-bit ltanium blade servers).
Frontend uses DEC forms C and FORTRAN as development tools.Communication of all the terminals with their
servers are achieved by 2 mbps channel lines,fibre optic cables/microwave channels switches, modem, multiplexers, etc.
PRESENT STATUS OF WORKING IN INDIAN RAILWAYS
The Passenger Reservation System is a prominent example of how Information Technology can be leveraged to
L

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provide transparency and convenience to users on a very large scale and is a pioneering e-governance initiative
in the country. However, an IT enabled system on such a vast scale, also requires rigrous controls to sustain operations
and to ensure that it is being run as intended and complying with all the relevant rules and regulations. The system
was found to have a few major design deficiencies and the areas of concern were related to system based and manual
controls. These leave the system open to the risk of misuse adversely affecting the seat/birth availability to general
passengers. The system also had design deficiencies which caused inconvenience to the passengers. Moreover,
crucial areas covering security of the system and data, system and process documentation, database
management, change management and user privilege management process were either inadequate or poorly
addressed. Absence of a structured disaster management policy coupled with associated practices exposes the system
to serious risk of disruption,incase of a physical disaster.
LIMITATIONS OF EXISTING SYSTEM
DATA REDUNDANCY - It means the same data fields appear in many different files and often in different formats.
In manual system, it poses quite a big problem because the data has to be maintained in large volumes but in our
system, this problem can be overcome by providing the condition that if the data entered is duplicate, itwillnot be
entered,otherwise,updating will take place.
DIFFICULT IN ACCESSING THE DATA - In manual system, searching information is time consuming but in us
system, any information can be accessed by providing theprimary key.
UNSATISFACTORY SECURITY MEASURES - In manual system, no security measures were provided but in
this system, password security has been provided. The person can access the system by providing the correct password
otherwise, he isdenied theaccess.
IMPROVEMENTS REQUIRED
1. STAGGER OPENING TIMES - If the train leaves in the forenoon, let the opening time be 8 a.m. and if it leaves in
the afternoon, let the opening time be 10 a.m. This one move alone will splice the peak-time traffic into halves, roughly and
the demand reduction applies to theentire pipe,not just the web servers. Oneissue with this approach isthat passengers
who have an afternoon train as first preference and a forenoon train as a backup will have
reduced flexibility. But this is only a small price to pay for better experience on opening days.
2. DECOUPLE SEAT SELECTION - Tickets are commodities, while seats and births are not. This adds to the

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complexity. Indian Railway’s offers a precisely labelled berth or seat to a ticket buyer. In database terms, a row- level
lock is obtained on the berth, while thousands of transactions compete for that. A better way would be to sell tickets first
and allot the births later.
3. PROCESS PAYMENTS SEPERATELY - Another huge bottleneck is in processing payments. It involves a series
of menu selections by users each causing pages to load followed by complex handshakes between IRCTC, third party
gateways, bank security checks and so on. Each step is prone to failures too.On thewhole 29% ofattempted payments
fail.
SOLUTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
The services offered by the Indian Railways to its passengers need to be improved and modernized to satisfy the
passenger. Among the various factors considered, the problem faced by the majority of thepassengers are bulk booking
off tickets by agencies’, heavy crowd in the platform and problems of theft. Railway Police Force could be
strengthened to improve the security of the passengers. Better
infrastructures can be introduced to avoid congestion in the stations and railway ticket reservation facilities
can also be improved. If all the suggestions are considered by the railway authorities, then it is a hope that Indian
Railways will excel in nearMore.
• Railways should strengthen its communication network and reduce BSNL links to the bare minimum.
Where BSNL links have to be continued for strategic reasons effective performance must be ensured
through proper agreements andpenalty clauses.
• The system design deficiencies need to be rectified based on user requirements to prevent manual
interventions. Coaching Refund System needs tobeintegrated withPassenger Reservation System.
• Railways should maintain the system documentation and manuals to enable referencing at the operational
levels and develop a comprehensive IT policy encompassing IT security. Adequate physical access
controls should be instituted to safeguard prs assets and access controls should be strengthened to ensure
accountabilityfortransactions.
• Assignment of various privileges should be standardized and adequate controls need to be established
toprevent misuse ofprivileges.
• Railways should Intime a mechanism for incorporating changes promptly. A structured disaster recovery policy
should be developed with off-site back up sitesforbusiness continuity as well asdata storage.

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IMPLEMENTATION POINT OF VIEW
The PRS locations should be adequately protected from damage through fire, water,etc.
• Railways should build adequate checks to prevent reservation on fictitious or incomplete details and to enhance
credibility and confidence in the system. Adequate validation checks should also be installed for
generation of pre-bought tickets. Any transactions of a pre-bought ticket for second lap should be validated
with the details of the first lap of journey. The business logic and corresponding rules for break journey
have to be adequately built into the system with validation checks to ensure compliance.
• Railways should strengthen its control mechanism to ensure that accommodation under various quotas is not
misused and that unused accommodation in these quotas is taken back to the general pool systematically to
optimize utilization.
• Railways should rectify the application to correct the fare table and institute mechanism at the appropriate level
to ensure that distances between stations are uniformly adopted in the system, so that fares can be correctly levied.
The inaccuracies in the master tables should also be rectified immediately to enhance reliability of data and to
render generation of meaningful reports.
TECHNICAL POINT OF VIEW
The software needs to be rectified to prevent multiple bookings against the same berth, as allotment of berths to passengers
should be a zero-error process.
Suitable modifications in the program need to be carried out to provide compact accommodation for multi
passenger reservation having a combination of confirmed reservation and waitlisted/RAC status.
• Railways should strengthen its control mechanisms to define the train profiles in the system as per the physical
composition of trains. End route stations also have to be correctly defined for trains. Suitable mechanism should be
developed to ensure that status of late running of trains is set promptly in the system so that cancellation charges are
computed correctly.
• The internal control mechanism to monitor the supply and custody of unused ticket rolls needs to be strengthened.
Physical verification of ticket rolls should be conducted periodically to prevent misuse of tickets.

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