Madurai Railway Division: Electrically-operated barriers installed at 23 level crossings

MADURAI: To enable the swift operation of level crossing gates and to enhance efficiency, the railways department has initiated the installation of electrically operated lifting barriers.

In Madurai Division, 23 level crossing gates have been equipped with electrical lifting barriers, and the plan is to install them at over 100 additional gates this financial year. As a supplementary measure, manually operated sliding booms were also provided at these gates to handle situations such as road vehicles hitting the lifting barriers. In mechanically operated systems, gates are opened and closed by rotating winches, with wire ropes enabling the lifting and lowering of the barriers, which consumes time.

Meanwhile, now a control panel with knobs and push buttons, along with LED indications, is provided. These barriers could be operated individually or simultaneously, and the time required for opening or closing is less than 12 seconds. A lock pawl is provided to secure the boom in a horizontal position when fully lowered. Safety protocols at these gates were completed without manual intervention. Unlike mechanical gates, electrically operated gates eliminate the need for physical effort to open or close them. They function using relay technology with push-button operation. The cost of installing electrical barriers and the sliding boom at each gate is Rs 20 lakh.

Due to the sophisticated technology used in electrically operated gates, replacing barriers damaged by vehicle collisions could be costly.

Technical experts estimate the replacement cost of one barrier to be between Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 3 lakh. Consequently, road users were urged to be extra cautious.