'Automated Rainfall Monitoring System For Bullet Train Project': Ashwini Vaishnaw

The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Ltd (NHSRCL) will be adopting an automated rainfall monitoring system to ensure safe operations of bullet train services. This system will provide real time data on the rainfall using rain gauges, equipped with an advanced instrumentation system. The influence radius of these rain gauges is nearly 10km.

Each gauge contains a tripping cell that generates signal pulses in response to the collected rain volume. These pulses are transmitted via a signal communication line to the facility controller system at the operation control centre (OCC), where they are meticulously displayed and monitored, a release from NHSRCL said.

The system measures and monitors rainfall every hour and 24-hour, which is crucial for making informed decisions regarding train operations, particularly in areas susceptible to heavy rainfall, and its effects on earth structures and natural slopes.

Specific regulations will be enforced based on the rainfall data and threshold values, type of earth structure and natural slopes for each section, duly validated by patrolling teams activated through maintenance centres, the release said.

Six instrumented rain gauge stations are proposed to be installed in Thane and Palghar districts along the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train corridor, specifically near vulnerable earth structures, mountain tunnel entrance/exit and tunnel portals etc. Areas with significant cuttings and potential landslide risks will also be closely monitored, it added.