Development of a Real Time Trains Monitoring System Case Study of Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority

Abstract

With the evolution of technology that has occurred in digital systems, new services have appeared that can be applied in railways. Radio communications play an important role in the management of, exploration and maintenance of railway transports. Due to the importance of efficient service delivery and security in railways, there is need to integrate the use of the Global System for Mobile communication and global positioning systems. Transportation is a large and important part of the economy of any country. Railway transportation is one of the main transportation systems worldwide. To this effect, we should have a good and strong monitoring system that can locate a train at every instant. In this research, a proposal has been made for the implementation of a Global Positioning System (GPS) and global system for mobile communication (GSM) based train monitoring system on Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) railway network that will enable controllers locate their trains at every instant. The GPS-GSM/GPRS (General Packet Radio System) module will be incorporated in the system. A GSM/GPRS module will transmit the location information to a web server. Every track and locomotive will be assigned a unique number for identification. The information of the train location will be continuously updated when the train is moving and the users will be accessing the information via the web. The updated information will be stored in the web server. Clients will request for particular train status and a designed web application will show the status in a Google map. An alternative radio voice communication system will be incorporated in the locomotives in case of failure on the monitoring system. This implementation will greatly improve service delivery to the company.