Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/auto/indian-railways-to-buy-rs-1000-crore-worth-modern-ultrasound-flaw-detection-to-detect-rail-defects-article-97281990
Publisher: Times Now News
The Indian Railways is currently floating tenders to induct self-propelled Ultrasound Flaw Detection (USFD) systems to eliminate train derailment due to rail fracture. Currently, the Indian Railways does not have any of these modern flaw detection systems and totally depends on manually operated USFD machines.
Reports suggest that the current year has already had 35 derailment cases, and an equal number of cases were reported in the previous year as well. Moreover, a total of 55 derailments were reported in the pre-Covid days in 2019-20, due to track defects.
It is estimated that each vehicle will cost Rs.130 crores, and this cost covers both the operation and maintenance costs of the vehicle for the next five years.
However, this is not the first time that the Indian Railways has made an attempt to acquire these sophisticated systems. The first attempt was made back in 1985, but several issues with the self-propelled machines stalled the process back then. Then in 2005 also a vehicular USFD was brought but it failed to deliver the desired results.
Now that all the issues have been resolved, the authorities are hopeful of a successful introduction of the self-propelled USFD machines on the tracks. Furthermore, the Indian Railways also wants to introduce more tech-driven equipment to eliminate derailments.
