Train management system for Mumbai Suburban train network - An operations perspective

The Mumbai Suburban train system, operating approx. 1250 trains & handling approx. 2 Lakh passengers daily, is a high density, high turnaround complex network which demands extremely fast & efficient train control system. The manual control is slow, tedious, stressful and doesn't involve holistic operational management. It is inadequate to handle the commuters' ever increasing demand of more trains/timely information. The TMS on Churchgate-Virar section accomplishes Train Control & Information dissemination automatically. The train movement data is picked up from the stations through high-speed modems and fed to a centralized UNIX server, which commands the train movement and triggers the passenger information system. This has increased punctuality & efficiency of train operations, facilitated running more trains and enhanced passenger satisfaction.