In a bid to decrease rail derailments and make rail travel safer, Indian Railways is spending Rs 350 crore to train 1.5 lakh train drivers. The training will include virtual reality techniques to fill the gap between theoretical and practical learnings. The training will be conducted across the country in around 47 centres. Also, railways will soon float a tender to acquire about 40 simulators for the purpose.
A senior official of the ministry in his recent interview said, “We spend almost a month in giving drivers on-road training. They learn all the techniques in theory, but through these virtual reality techniques, they will learn how to navigate routes, signals, curves, bridges and any other situation as if they are actually driving a real train.”
The simulator will have a man-machine interface, a host of computers and a video camera to capture the movements of the driver. It will be a sophisticated electric locomotive and will give a real life experience. The motion pictures in front of the wheel will keep changing and drivers will be able to feel activities around them, such as the passing of trains on adjacent tracks or sharp bends.
