Fog protocol, which the Indian Railways brings into force for safe train operations, occasionally impacts the scheduled timetable of trains, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed Rajya Sabha in a written reply on Friday.
“Foggy weather conditions affect normal operation of train services. During such weather conditions, for the safe operation of trains, fog protocol is implemented, which occasionally impacts the scheduled timetable of trains,” Vaishnaw said while answering questions raised by Janata Dal (United) MP Ram Nath Thakur.
Thakur asked the minister to share “the percentage of Indian Railways trains that were affected due to foggy, cold wave and low visibility conditions in the month of January 2024” and “whether this problem occurs almost every year.” Thakur also wanted to know the details of measures taken to deal with these conditions in the last five years.
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“To assist the loco pilots in train operations during foggy weather conditions, various measures have been taken like providing retro-reflective sigma boards on the OHE mast and GPS based Fog Safe devices to alert crew about approaching signals, level crossing gates etc,” Vaishnaw said.
He added, “At present 19,742 numbers of Fog Safe devices have been provided for train operation.”
