Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains III –Science & Technology
In News
The South Central Railway (SCR) has started supplying Fog Pass devices, a GPS-based portable equipment, to loco pilots.
During the winter, when visibility is low due to fog, loco pilots face a tough challenge of ensuring safe operations of trains. They are forced to restrict the speed of the train as they are unable to sight signals
The entire data of a particular section such as location of signals, stations, level-crossing gates, warning boards, curves and gradients, are mapped with GPS and fed into the device.
A fog pass device displays details of at least three oncoming landmarks along with distance from the current location. An audio alert is given, around 500 metres before any approaching landmark
Fog device helps in alerting the crew about upcoming landmarks or structures, during foggy weather, through audio and visual indications.