Optical fibre cable between Virudhunagar, Tenkasi stations

MADURAI: The Madurai railway division has commissioned high-end optical fibre cable link between Virudhunagar and Tenkasi stations on Thursday. According to railway officials, the 123 km-long 24 fibre optic cable installed at a cost of Rs 2.64 crore connecting the eight stations between Tenkasi and Virudhunagar provides a high speed channel for passenger reservation system and unreserved ticketing system, apart from providing connectivity to axle counters in the section which enhances safety in the block sections.
Free from copper, the cable is not prone to theft and provides superior quality of communication with built in large number of telephone channels to meet future needs of train operation and safety. Optical fibre technology will be very useful in future for introducing mobile communication in running trains between the loco pilot and guard who can talk to each other and also with section control on the moving train.
This will also be useful in emergencies like accidents, they said. Apart from use by railways, the spare capacity will be taken over by RailTEL to provide internet facility at stations and in running trains in future as well as for commercial exploitation like providing cable TV in remote areas.