Why this iron ring was given to the train driver? Know about this technology of Indian Railways

Trains are the easiest and cheapest means of traveling long distances. Millions of people travel by train in India every day. Indian trains are now more advanced than before. Now high speed premium trains like Vande Bharat are also included in Indian Railways. Railways is constantly upgrading its trains. But, there are still many places in the country where British-era methods are being adopted for trains. Even today, the old token system is used to run trains in many places in India.

Token exchange was introduced in the Indian Railways system to ensure safe train movement. To explain in clear terms, this is the way of the time when signal facility was not available everywhere. A token exchange facility was implemented to ensure that the train reaches its next station correctly. Even today this system is functioning in many places in the country.

This technology is essential for train safety

Let us tell you that iron ring is given to train driver in token exchange system. Another train does not start on that track until the train driver delivers this iron ring to another station. Let us tell you about this token exchange system in detail.

When the Indian Railways were started, the tracks were very small for a long time. There are many places in the country where incoming and outgoing trains run on the same track. Token exchange was initiated to prevent both trains from colliding with each other in such a situation. A large iron ring is used as a token in this system. When the train reaches the station, this iron ring is given to the Lokpilot i.e. the driver of the train.

The iron ring has to be delivered to the next station.

Giving the driver an iron ring meant that the track was completely free and no other vehicle could enter it. As soon as the train reaches another station on that track, the lock pilot gives the iron ring to the station master. The station master cannot run another train on that track until that token is exchanged at the station.

For your information let us tell you that the iron rings used in token exchange have an iron ball. These balls are technically called tablets. As soon as the station master receives the token from the driver, he fits it into the nail ball machine installed at the station. From this the route to the next station is considered clear. The most special thing about this token station was that if for some reason the train does not reach the station then the nail ball machine installed at the previous station will not be unlocked and no train will be able to enter that track from that station. .