Making strides in technological advancement, Petrapole station of the Sealdah division bid farewell to its British-era token block instrument and welcomed a modern electronic interlocking system today.
Petrapole stands as the final station of the Indian Railways, nestled near the Bangladesh border within the Sealdah division. It serves as a crucial link to Benapole, the first station of Bangladesh, facilitating the transportation of goods trains and hosting the international passenger train, Bandhan Express, fostering connectivity between the two nations. Moreover, Petrapole station serves as a pivotal interchange point for freight trains traversing between India and Bangladesh.
Previously, the station operated without a signaling system, relying solely on an antiquated token block instrument, which was the last of its kind within the Eastern Railway. However, at approximately 4:15 am today, a state-of-the-art Siemens electronic interlocking system was inaugurated at Petrapole station, overseen by the diligent supervision of Divisional Railway Manager, Deepak Nigam. To ensure a smooth transition and uninterrupted train operations at Bangaon, over 50 personnel were deployed during the night
In just eight short hours, the signal and telecommunication railway team, led by Mr. Md Nasir, Senior Divisional Signal and Telecommunication Engineer (Sr. DSTE) of Sealdah, completed the non-interlocking work in this section. They replaced the old token block instrument from the British era with a new universal failsafe block instrument system. This upgrade promises heightened safety in the area and opens up possibilities for more train movements.
As per the Eastern Railway, the old token block instrument will be preserved in the Rail Museum as a heritage artifact.