GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

Handbook on
Electronic LC Gate Communication
System (Wired & Wireless) in IR

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8/1.0
JANUARY 2022

INDIAN RAILWAYS
Centre for Advanced Maintenance Technology
Maharajpur, Gwalior (M.P.) Pin Code – 474 005
BLANK PAGE
 i

Handbook on
Electronic LC Gate Communication System
(Wired & Wireless) in IR

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8/1.0
JANUARY 2022
Prepared by: Ravi Shanker Mishra
SSE/Telecom, CAMTECH, GWL

Contact person: Director (S&T)

Indian Railways
Centre for Advanced Maintenance Technology
Maharajpur, GWALIOR (M.P.) - 474 005
Tel: 0751-2470185, FAX: 0751-2470841
 ii

BLANK PAGE
 iii

Foreword

Presently, there are large no. of manned LC Gates in Indian Railway. With the
advancements in technology, Railway authorities‟ now-a-days want to replace the
communication equipments used traditionally at Manned LC gates with dual media
based digital communication systems. These systems permit to connect between
the Station & LC Gates over both Wired & Wireless mediums ensuring safer,
secure, reliable & Fail-safe communication. The benefits include deployment of
advance equipments having features like Voice logging, Data logging, GPS clock,
Conferencing & group messaging without changing the existing Communication
protocol. The Monitoring & checking of these equipments from security point of
view is also easier. These systems being designed according to RDSO
specifications & guidelines are scalable to encompass additional requirements in
future.

As LC Gates are highly vulnerable locations for trespassing & accidents, it is

desirable to ensure safe communication & other measures to prevent any
unfortunate incident. The problems of mobility and accident prevention at level
crossings can best be addressed by joint efforts of all concerned – Central
Government, State Government, Municipalities, NGOs, educational institutions
and private operators etc.

In continuing its efforts in documentation and upgradation of information,

CAMTECH has prepared this handbook for S&T personnel to get them familiar
with LC Gate Communication in IR for its efficient operation and maintenance.

CAMTECH, Gwalior Jitendra Singh

Principal Executive Director
 iv

BLANK PAGE
 v

Preface

There is an exponential increase in transportation of material both by rail & road. This has
necessitated construction of a very large number of level crossings on railway track. To ensure
safety of road as well as rail passengers, it is utmost important to maintain level crossings
impeccably. The manned level crossings are provided with telephone systems to ensure smooth
communication between Station Master & gate staff. With the advent in technology, features
such as Electronic Communication system with the facility of Voice logging, Data logging, GPS
based clock for real time recording, longer power backup with provision of solar power, dual
media (Wired & Wireless) based telephone systems etc. have been introduced in this field.

CAMTECH has prepared this handbook with an objective to disseminate the information on LC
Gate Communication in Indian railways among officials and maintenance staff of S&T
(Telecom) department who deal with field communication. This handbook contains overview of
LC Gate communication in brief, with hierarchy of Gate telephone instruments & their features;
features & specifications of Electronic Gate telephone system (Master-Slave configuration) &
dual media based LC Gate Telephone system (with the facility of media changeover in case of
media failure).

We are sincerely thankful to the Signal & Telecom directorate of RDSO for their guidance and
S&T personnel of Indian Railways who helped us in preparing this handbook. We are also
thankful to M/s. Epsilon Electronic Eqpmt. & Components Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad & M/s. AE
TELELINK Systems Ltd., New Delhi for their kind cooperation in preparation of the draft &
organising webinar on the subject. Since technological upgradation and learning is a continuous
process, you may feel the need for some addition/modification in this handbook. If so, please
give your comments on email address [email protected] or write to us at Indian
Railways Centre for Advanced Maintenance Technology, In front of Adityaz Hotel, Airport
Road, Near DD Nagar, Maharajpur, Gwalior (M.P.) 474005.

CAMTECH, Gwalior Vijay Garg

Director (S&T)
 vi

BLANK PAGE
 vii

Table of Contents
Table of Figures ................................................................................................................................ ix

Issue of correction slips ...................................................................................................................... x

Disclaimer......................................................................................................................................... xi

Our Objective .................................................................................................................................. xii

1.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 1

1.1.1 What is LC Gate? ............................................................................................................................. 1

1.1.2 Communication at LC Gate: ............................................................................................................ 1

1.2 Hierarchy of LC Gate Telephone instruments: .................................................................................. 2

i) Magneto telephone: ................................................................................................................2

ii) ELECTRONIC MAGNETO TELEPHONE DESK TYPE: ......................................................................3

iii) Push Button Electronic Magneto Telephone: ..........................................................................4

iv) ELECTRONIC LEVEL CROSSING GATE TELEPHONE SYSTEM (2009 Rev. 1.0): ...................................... 5

v) ELECTRONIC LEVEL CROSSING GATE TELEPHONE SYSTEM (2011 Rev.3.0):........................................ 6

1.3 ELECTRONIC LEVEL CROSSING GATE TELEPHONE SYSTEM (2011 Rev.3.0):...................................... 7

1.3.1 Overview of Electronic LC Gate Telephone System: ...................................................................... 7

1.3.2 Working Principle of Electronic LC Gate Telephone System: ........................................................ 9

1.3.3 Audio-Visual Indications: .............................................................................................................. 13

1.3.4 Power Supply Arrangement:......................................................................................................... 14

2.1 Level Crossing Gate Control & Monitoring System Based On Wired & Wireless (VHF)
Communication: .............................................................................................................................. 16

PART –A: ................................................................................................................................................. 16

2.1.1 SYSTEM OVERVIEW: ...................................................................................................................... 16

2.1.2 System Features: ........................................................................................................................... 19

2.1.3 SYSTEM OPERATION: .................................................................................................................... 22

PART –B: ................................................................................................................................................. 26

 viii

2.2.1 SYSTEM OVERVIEW: ...................................................................................................................... 26

2.2.2 System Features: ........................................................................................................................... 28

2.3 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS OF TELEPHONE INSTRUMENTS: ........................................................... 30

2.4 TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS OF TELEPHONE INSTRUMENTS: ........................................................ 31

For Master Telephone:.............................................................................................................. 32

For Slave Telephone: ................................................................................................................ 33

2.5 GENERAL SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS (Applicable for both Part - A & Part - B Equipments): .......... 33

2.6 Power Supply Arrangement: ............................................................................................................ 34

2.7 Voice & Data Logging Features: ....................................................................................................... 34

References....................................................................................................................................... 36

CAMTECH Publications ..................................................................................................................... 37

 ix

Table of Figures

Figure 1: Magneto Telephone .............................................................................................................3

Figure 2: ELECTRONIC MAGNETO TELEPHONE DESK TYPE ....................................................................4

Figure 3: Push Button Electronic Magneto Telephone ..........................................................................4

Figure 4: ELECTRONIC LEVEL CROSSING GATE TELEPHONE SYSTEM ......................................................5

Figure 5: Surge Protection and Line Connection Unit ...........................................................................8

Figure 6: Power Supply Unit ...............................................................................................................8

Figure 7: Master-Slave configuration ..................................................................................................9

Figure 8: 2-Line, 16-Character LCD .................................................................................................... 13

Figure 9: Gateman Specific Request Panel (GSRP) ............................................................................. 17

Figure 10: Station Equipment ........................................................................................................... 20

Figure 11: LC Gate Equipment ........................................................................................................... 21

Figure 12: Network Diagram of Station - Level Crossing Gate Private Number Exchanger on Wired and
Wireless modes ................................................................................................................................ 24

Figure 13: Communication arrangement between Station and LC Gates ............................................ 27

 x

Issue of correction slips

The correction slips to be issued in future for this report will be numbered as follows:

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8/1.0# XX date .......

Where “XX” is the serial number of the concerned correction slip (starting from 01
onwards).

CORRECTION SLIPS ISSUED

Sr. No. of Date of issue Page no. and Item Remarks

Correction No. modified
Slip
 xi

Disclaimer
It is clarified that the information given in this handbook does not
supersede any existing provisions laid down in the IR Telecom
Engineering Manual, Railway Board and RDSO publications. This
document is not statuary and instructions given are for the purpose of
guidance only. If at any point contradiction is observed, then Signal
Engineering Manual, Telecom Engineering Manual, Railway
Board/RDSO guidelines may be referred or prevalent Zonal Railways
instructions may be followed.
 xii

Our Objective

To upgrade Maintenance Technologies and Methodologies and achieve

improvement in Productivity and Performance of all Railway assets and
manpower which inter-alia would cover Reliability, Availability and Utilisation.

If you have any suggestion & any specific comments, please write to us:
Contact person: Director (Signal & Telecommunication)
Postal Address : Centre for Advanced Maintenance Technology, Opposite
Hotel Adityaz, Near DD Nagar, Maharajpur, Gwalior
(M.P.) Pin Code – 474 005

Phone: 0751 - 2470185

Fax: 0751 – 2470841
Email: [email protected]
CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 1

Electronic LC Gate Communication System

1.1 INTRODUCTION

1.1.1 What is LC Gate?

Level crossings are provided on the railway lines to pass the road traffic across the track. As
the road traffic passes at the same level on that of the railway track, the crossing is termed as
Level crossing. Other types of crossings are Road Over Bridge (ROB) or Road Under Bridge
(RUB), where the road traffic passes over or under the railway track.

The Road Traffic crosses the Railway Track either on “Grade Separated Crossing” (Road and rail
at different Levels) or at “Level Crossing” (Road and rail at same levels). The level crossings are
made to facilitate the smooth running of traffic in a regulated manner governed by specific rules
and conditions.

The classification of level crossings shall be as under:-

 Special .......: for roads- TVUs > 50,000

 „A‟ Class......: for roads- TVUs > 30,000 but < 50,000

 „B‟ Class .....: for roads- TVUs > 20,000

 „C‟ Class .....: for roads- All other L-xings for roads not covered above

 „D‟ Class......: for cattle crossings.

1.1.2 Communication at LC Gate:

The duty of the gateman is to be stationed at the gate only, for opening and closing of the gates,
when the train passes through and also to control vehicular movements by road when no train is to
pass.

He should be always in touch with the Station Master who notifies for the train arrivals as well for
the express and goods trains pass by. In addition to that he should also inform the train
movements to the Station master ahead of the railway gate, to inform about the trains passing by.
Earlier the only way to ensure that the gate operator is present at these level-crossings, during the
passage of a train, is to use wired communications. The standard protocol is for the station master
(up or down the line) to have a formal rapport with each level-crossing gate operator and to
inform him of the trains arriving at his location. With the advancement in technology, more
efficient, secure, robust & reliable means of LC Gate communication have evolved, which are
covered ahead.

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 2

1.2 Hierarchy of LC Gate Telephone instruments:

i) Magneto telephone: The magneto telephone continues to play an important role in critical
areas either as the main means of communication or as a back-up system. Continual design
improvements ensure its usefulness in intensifying situations.

The features include:

• Durable piezo ringer for efficiency and penetrating sound.

• Ringer operates even if the handset is left Off-Hook.

• Identical dynamic receiver and transmitter.

• Micro-switch mechanism for generator change-over

• Two stage protection for circuit against high voltage spikes.

• High insulation resistance for user protection against lightning shock.

• PTFE bearing to make the generator virtually maintenance-free.

• High impedance permits use of more telephones in parallel.

• Flashing multi-coloured LED to indicate Off-Hook condition.

• Ergonomic handle and canted generator for ease of operation.

• Optionally, it can be self powered from its own generator.

• Heavy duty handset and line cords for long life.

• Durable and functional ABS body and handset.

• Hi-tech speech electronics for clarity and low power usage.

• Built-in battery box housing two „D‟ type cells for powering speech electronics.

• Can also be powered from external DC source of 1.6 to 16 volts

The magneto telephone is the only rugged and economic device available to operate in the most
remote parts of our country. It requires only a pair of wires from phone to phone and no central
exchange. The hand-cranked generator in each phone produces about 70-80 V AC to create a
ringing voltage on the other end of the line.

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 3

Figure 1: Magneto Telephone

ii) ELECTRONIC MAGNETO TELEPHONE DESK TYPE:

Specification no.: IRS: TC-79/2000

The Electronic Magneto Telephone Desk Type is designed to meet communication requirements
in Railways and similar set-ups, in between two or more stations. It is fully solid-state and works
on 1.2 Vx3 rechargeable cells. Alternatively, it can be connected to an external 3 V Battery. A
push button switch is used to alert the party at the other end by giving a buzzer tone, two beeps
can be used by pressing twice when using in between more than two stations. A side tone is also
heard in the Telephone of the sending station. The indications for the incoming ring are given by a
green LED on the telephone housing. This is designed to replace Conventional Magneto
Telephone with a hand cranking generator thus named as Electronic Magneto Telephone.

Features:

 It can be used for point to point communication between cabin ASMs of a yard, cabin to
level crossing gates and between two level crossing gates etc.

 A battery compartment is provided on the front of the telephone, with a hinged cover and
screw.

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 4

Figure 2: ELECTRONIC MAGNETO TELEPHONE DESK TYPE

iii) Push Button Electronic Magneto Telephone:

Specification no.: IRS: TC-83/2007

This push button magneto telephone is similar to the rotating type magneto telephone, but the ring
generator is electronic and appears across the lines as long as the „press to call‟ (PTC) button is
pressed.
It works on 6 V DC supply from 6 V, 1.2 AH Ni-MH battery provided inside and a charger
working on 100 – 300 V AC, 50 Hz. Provision is given in the rosette box to connect external 6 V
DC.

Figure 3: Push Button Electronic Magneto Telephone

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 5

SCOPE: The Push Button Magneto Telephone is used for Point to Point Communication for a
distance of upto 10 Kms. when the diameter of copper conductor is 1.5 Sq. mm.

iv) ELECTRONIC LEVEL CROSSING GATE TELEPHONE SYSTEM (2009 Rev. 1.0):
SPECIFICATION No.: RDSO/SPN/TC-51/2009 (Rev. 1.0)

The Electronic Level Crossing Gate Telephone features include:

 Communication and Selective Calling between Station Master and Level Crossing Gates,
with confidentiality in Speech.

 6 Gates can be connected to One ASM in Omnibus Mode.

 Works up to 8 Km. distance over 0.9 mm dia Cu Cable.

 Works as Electronic Magneto without any Battery at Gates, i.e. no Power Supply Unit /
Battery required at Gates.

 Power and Signal through the same cable pair.

 Only One Power Supply System at ASM Office.

 Power Supply Unit Cum Charger with outputs of 24V DC and 12V DC, having
Maintenance Free Battery of 24V/7AH, where the 12V Output is used for the Master
Telephone and 24V Output is used for the Slave Telephones wired through L1, L2.

Figure 4: ELECTRONIC LEVEL CROSSING GATE TELEPHONE SYSTEM

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 6

The amendments introduced from time to time in the above RDSO specification are as
follows:

Serial Date of
Amendment / Revision Reasons for Amendment
No. Amendment
1 15-12-2009 51-09 Rev 1.0 Gate number increased from 4 to 6
Incorporated Voice Logger and play
2 11-03-2013 51-11 Rev 3.0
back of recorded data
3 22-11-2016 51-11 Rev 3.0 Amdt.1 Incorporation of ISO clause

4 12-01-2021 51-21 Rev 1.0 Incorporation of GPS Clock

v) ELECTRONIC LEVEL CROSSING GATE TELEPHONE SYSTEM (2011 Rev.3.0):

SPECIFICATION No.: RDSO/SPN/TC-51/2011 (Rev. 3.0)

 Centralized Power Supply, eliminates power supplies at Gates thus enables Easy
Maintenance.

 Privacy of conversation

 Cost Effective

 The Master Telephone Unit as per Rev.2 has Voice Logging Facility working on
24V/12V DC supply or 48V DC available from OFC Hut.
This unit is meant for Monitoring and Recording of all events chronologically.
This unit is arm processor based with Solid State Disc and shall have its own Real Time
Clock. (GPS Based Clock - Optional)

• Time, Date, Year

• Station ID

• Calling / Called number in the ASM Cabin.

• Called / Received Time and Duration.

• Recording of events chronologically.

 This spec illustrates that the Master telephone unit shall have:

 Provision to store a minimum 200 hours of conversation on 8 GB SSD.

 Built-in Speaker for listening recording of calls or live calls monitoring.

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 7

 Automatic recording of all events occurring in the Master Telephone.

 Facility to replay last call by pressing one key.

 USB Cable Socket and interfacing to PC.

 Wave files auto copying facility.

 Application Software Installation CD provided.

 User interface keypad for assigning Station ID, correction of date / time etc.

 Well engineered dust free Master Unit.

 Current Consumption: Idle: 150 mA, During Speech: 250 mA, Ringing / Recording: 350
mA maximum.

1.3 ELECTRONIC LEVEL CROSSING GATE TELEPHONE SYSTEM (2011 Rev.3.0):

1.3.1 Overview of Electronic LC Gate Telephone System:

SPECIFICATION No.: RDSO/SPN/TC-51/2011 (Rev. 3.0)

The “Electronic LC Gate Telephone System” consists of the following items:

 Station Telephone Unit

 Gate Telephone Unit (Slave Telephones)

 Surge Protection & Line Connection Unit

 Centralized Power Supply System with Battery

i) “Station Telephone Unit” will be used at

Stations/Cabins. SM will be able to call the Gates from this
Telephone Equipment. This Station Telephone Unit will be
connected to the Line through a “Surge Protection & Line
Connection Unit/Circuit”. This Station Telephone Unit is
to be directly connected to the 12 V output of the Power
Supply Unit.

ii) “Gate Telephone” works as a Slave telephone to the

Station Telephone unit and will be located at LC Gates. This
telephone will be connected to the line through a “Surge

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR JANUARY/2022

Table of Contents
CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 8

Protection & Line Connection Unit”. No Power Supply or Battery will be required at gates.

iii) “Surge Protection and Line Connection Unit” will be required to connect the Master
Telephone and Gate Telephones to the 2W omnibus line (4/6 Quad cable, Signal cable,
overhead alignment). This unit will have surge protection arrangement with “GD Tube,
MOVR, Inductors and PTC resistors and will be suitably connected to a proper “Earthing”
terminal to avoid damage due to lightning and other voltage transients. Suitable terminals
shall be provided in these units for earthling at the stations and Gates.

Figure 5: Surge Protection and Line Connection Unit

iv) “Power Supply Unit” will be centrally located at Stations/Cabins. 12V DC supply shall
be connected to the Station Telephone Unit & 24 V shall be fed to Line Circuit.

Figure 6: Power Supply Unit

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 9

1.3.2 Working Principle of Electronic LC Gate Telephone System:

The Electronic LC Gate Telephone System shall be used for point to point and point to multipoint
communication between Station/Cabin & Level Crossing Gates, where the number of points to be
connected are up-to 7 (Seven), [1 (Station Tel) + 6 (Gate Tel)]. Master telephone, gate telephone
and Power supply of all other RDSO approved sources of this specification shall be able to get
connected in the Electronic LC gate telephone to be supplied without any limitation or
modification. The “Electronic LC Gate Telephone System” shall be used in Master-Slave
configuration as shown in Fig. below.

Figure 7: Master-Slave configuration

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 10

A. Station Telephone Unit will have the facility to call individually any of the Level Crossing
Gates by pressing the corresponding button designated for a particular Gate.

B. Station Telephone Unit will have two buttons named as “All UP Gates” and “All Down
Gates” to facilitate simultaneous calls to all the gates connected in UP/Down direction for
imparting certain common instruction simultaneously or for conference purposes.

C. In addition to the above, the Station Telephone Unit will have another push button
“DISCONNECT” for disconnecting the gate telephones. When this button is pressed, all
the Gate Telephones connected in the circuit will be deactivated and speech will not be
through to and from those Gate Telephones.

D. Gate Telephone will have the facility to send an indication to the Station Telephone Unit
that it wants to talk to the Station Master. The Gate telephone will have only one push
button by pressing which it will draw the attention of the Station Master. The ID (Gate
Number) of gate should be settable through DIP switches provided on the circuit. There
shall be provision to set any of the Gate phones to keep it in „UP Gate Call‟ or „Down Gate
call‟ group. It will ring in case DTMF code for „UP Gate call‟ or „Down Gate call‟ (as
defined in Annexure-II) is received.

E. The system shall permit working of Voice Communication and Signaling on 2-Wire
(Overhead or PE Quad) Omnibus Line tapped at different places for point to point and
point to multipoint communication.

F. Although Station Telephone Unit as well as all the Gate Telephones are connected on 2-
Wire Omnibus Line, confidentiality of speech shall be ensured as below:

 Station-Gate Conversation: Unless permitted and activated by the Station

Master, “Gate to Station” or “Station to Gate” conversation is not possible. Only
when Station Master presses a key designated for a particular Gate, that Gate
Telephone will be activated for conversation. Other Gate Telephones will not be
activated for conversation and they can neither speak nor listen to ongoing voice
communication on 2-Wire Omnibus Circuit. As such confidentiality of speech is
ensured.

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 11

 Gate-Gate Conversation: Only when Master presses two or more Gate Buttons,
those Gates are activated and will be able to converse to the Master as well as
between them. The activated Gate Telephone will remain activated for
conversation even if the handset of the Station Telephone Unit is placed on the
hook so that conversation between the Gate Telephones can continue. The Gate
Telephone will be disconnected and the Indicating LED on Station Telephone Unit
meant for that particular Gate Telephone will go OFF, when the handset of that
particular Gate Telephone is placed on the hook. Here as only selected Gate
Telephones were activated for conversation, other Gate Telephones were not
activated for conversation and they can neither speak nor listen to ongoing voice
communication.

 Conferencing: When UP Gate call or DN Gate call is initiated by ASM Unit only
those gate phones will be activated which are set in that particular group ( UP or
DOWN) and can converse to the Master as well as among themselves, others will
not be able to listen. Corresponding LED (UP Gate call LED/Down Gate call LED)
will also glow. The LED will go off and the activated Gate Telephone will be
disconnected when the disconnect button of the Station Telephone Unit is pressed.

G. DTMF Signalling Codes for various activities are programmed in the device itself. These
Two-Digit DTMF Codes shall be generated by pressing Single Push Button or by an action
of Handset. It shall be possible to send the signaling code even when two or more parties
are in conversation.

H. Station Telephone Unit shall record all the voice conversation between Station Telephone
Unit and Gate Telephone. This entire recording shall be through Single Channel Voice
Logger. Station Telephone Unit should be designed in such a way that it should have built
in arrangement to process, record and store any ongoing voice communication taking place
with Station Telephone Unit. Station Telephone Unit should have the facility to playback
the recorded voice communication through the speaker/jack provided in the unit after
selecting the voice file to be played. This selection should be done through the keys
provided in the Lock and Key arrangement for this purpose.

I. The recording and storage of voice communication should start as soon as the handset of
the Station Telephone Unit is lifted from the cradle and the same is terminated with the
replacement of the handset of Station Telephone Unit. This will form one *.Wav file.
When again hand set of Station Telephone Unit is made off-hook recording will start and
another *. Wav file will be generated.

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 12

J. The system shall have voice recording with 64 kbps PCM Coding. The codec used shall be
ITU G.711 or any higher version of codec (Like G711.1) as per ITU standard.

K. Recording Sensitivity shall be better than -20 dBm. Frequency Response for 300-3400 Hz
shall be +/- 3 dB. The distortion of the Recorded Voice Signal when replayed shall not be
more than 5% with respect to Original Signal. Testing for Distortion shall be done at 1000
Hz.

L. All the Voice Recording shall be Date and Time Stamped along with stamping of Station
Identity. At least Date, Time & Station Identity shall be part of the file name of voice files.
Recording shall be in *.wav file format, so that it can be replayed on Windows Media
Player on any PC/Laptop with Windows OS. Following minimum Information listed
below should be made available from the recorded data.

 Station identity (Station code: minimum 4 characters).

 Recording Start time and End time in HH/MM/SS format for all voice recorded
files.

 “Who calls whom” information.

M. The capacity of Voice Storage shall be at least 200 Hours on a Minimum 8 GB Solid State
Memory Device. Solid State Memory Device should be FAT32 formatted. Storage of
Voice Communication should follow the FIFO (First in First Out) methodology. Once
Voice Communication is stored in, no way it should get corrupted. It shall also be not
possible to format the Solid State Memory Device by conventional methods.

N. There shall be provision of a Green LED on Station Telephone Unit to indicate that
recording is taking place. In case of any problem in Voice Recording, there shall be an
alarm through flashing Red LED.

O. There should be provision of an USB Interface Port in Station Telephone Unit through
which Recorded Voice can be transferred from Station Telephone Unit to Laptop for
replay or taking backup on CD/DVD. Feature of Auto Copy of voice Data on insertion of
USB Pen Drive shall also be available. This USB Interface Port shall be protected from
unauthorized access through arrangement of Mechanical Locking & Sealing. Through this
USB Interface it should also be possible to set Station Identity in Alpha characters. It shall
also be possible to set Station identity through the master telephone keyboard housed
inside the Station Telephone Unit.

P. The equipment should have a GPS receiver to update its local clock. Whenever equipment
is energised it should update its clock within four minute of switching it on, further it
should correct its local clock at an interval of one hour through a GPS receiver. If the
equipment is not receiving the GPS signal the same should be indicated as „GPS Failure‟

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 13

or in the form of symbolic notification in LCD Display. In addition to this the equipment
shall have Real Time Clock with an accuracy of + 3.5 PPM within Operating Temperature
Range of -10oC to +55oC. It should be possible to set Station ID, Date and Clock Time
using Laptop through USB Interface Port. It shall also be possible to set the same from the
Station Telephone unit itself. Necessary arrangements like speaker, switches should be
provided inside the Station Telephone Unit to enable above facilities. Suitable GPS
antenna with minimum 5 M. cable should be connected to GPS module to have exposure
to sky.

Q. A “POWER ON” Green LED shall be provided on all telephones.

R. The Station Telephone Unit and Gate Telephones should work properly from individual
DC Power source of 12 V DC + 20%. The Gate Telephone shall be protected from Surge
and Transients by using suitable protection.

S. The receiver of the telephone instrument shall be protected from acoustic shocks by
providing two rectifiers in parallel and with opposite polarity across the receiver.

T. Station Master Unit should have One LCD Display of at-least 16x2 Character to display
the Station ID, Date and Time etc. During Playback it will show the voice file to be
played.

Figure 8: 2-Line, 16-Character LCD

1.3.3 Audio-Visual Indications:

A) Station Telephone Unit:

Power ON LED: Power ON LED should be of Green colour and will glow when DC Power
supply is available.

Calling Indications:

a) Six Red colored LEDs will be provided near the six Calling push buttons. RED coloured
LEDs will also be provided near „UP Gate Call‟ and „Down Gate Call‟ buttons as per

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 14

layout shown in Annexure III. Gate telephone numbers shall be suitably printed to
designate the push button and the LED.

b) When a Gateman calls Station Master by lifting the handset and pressing the CALL ASM
button, the corresponding LED in Master Telephone will blink, as well as a piezo buzzer
will sound. The buzzer sound will be muted after one minute however the LED will blink
till ASM acknowledges by lifting the handset and pressing the corresponding gate button.
This blinking LED indicates that either the Gate man is calling or there is a pending
missed call request from a particular gate. This LED will glow steadily when ASM presses
the corresponding push button.

c) This LED will also glow steadily when the Master calls some gate by pressing the
corresponding button.

d) These LEDs will go OFF when the “Disconnect” button of the ASM unit is pressed.

e) A piezo buzzer will also sound when it is being called by the gate telephone and it should
generate an interrupted /continuous/ sound. The calling gate shall get RBT sent from the
Station Telephone Unit for 1-2 seconds.

f) There shall be provision of a flashing Green LED on the Station Telephone Unit to
indicate that recording is taking place. In case of any problem in Voice Recording, there
shall be an alarm through flashing Red LED.

B) Gate Telephone Unit:

Power ON LED: Power ON LED is of Green colour and will glow when DC Power supply is
available. This LED is to be fixed on the right hand side of the telephone.

Calling Indication: A Red colour LED will be in the left side of the telephone, which will
indicate that either ASM is calling or there is pending missed call request from ASM. This LED
will glow when the Master calls the Gate. This LED will go OFF only when the handset of the
telephone is lifted. The LED will glow and Piezo Buzzer will also sound both in ON hook and
OFF hook condition.

Ring back Tone: Ring Back Tone (RBT) will be sent back to the Station Telephone Unit when a
Gate Telephone Rings. RBT will not send back in case of the Gate Telephone unit buzzer fails.
The level of RBT at the Gate Telephone output point will be more than –12 dBm.

1.3.4 Power Supply Arrangement:

a) One DC Power source having 12 V and 24 V DC Output Terminals will be required at a

centralized place. Station Telephone Unit and all the 6 Gate Telephones connected should

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 15

work from this Single Power Source and no separate Power supply will be provided at the
Gates.

b) In case the available voltage at a Gate Telephone is less than 9.6 Volt (due to Longer
Distance or due to High Conductor Loop Resistance or due to Location of other
Telephones), this Gate Telephones should work satisfactorily with individual Power
Supply arrangement of 12 V DC + 20%.

c) The power supply arrangement shall be a part of supply along with “Electronic LC Gate
Telephone System”. Power Supply unit consists of a battery charger having 230 V AC, 50
Hz nominal input and having 27.2 + 0.5 DC output. The battery charger in addition to
supplying the load shall also charge the battery. The maintenance free 24 V (12 V+12 V)
battery is provided for back up of at least 12 hours. The capacity of the same should not be
less than 7 AH. However, the railways can ask for a higher capacity of the battery to
commensurate with the load. Provision should also be made to charge the battery from a
Solar Panel of suitable capacity.

d) The Power Supply unit should have another output of 12 V + 0.5 V, with current capacity
of minimum 500 mA for local use of the Station Telephone Unit.

e) Power Supply Unit should be able to work satisfactorily for variation of input voltage from
160 V to 270 V Single Phase AC to give rated output voltage.

f) Battery Charging Current of Power Supply Unit shall be rated at one tenth of the Battery
capacity and it shall be minimum 1 Amp.

g) Power supply unit should have protection against short circuits at DC output terminals and
should have LED indication for the same.

h) Ripple at 12 V/24 V output should be less than 5 mV RMS. Ripple should be measured at
a Load Current of 400 mA (i. e. full load when all the Telephones are working).

i) The Power Supply Unit should have a surge protection arrangement.

j) Current consumption by the telephones at 12 V DC shall not be more than the limits
mentioned below:

For Station Telephone Unit:

● 250 mA in idle condition.

● 450 mA during the ring with all 6 LEDs glowing.
● 350 mA during speech conditions.

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 16

For Gate Telephone Unit:

● 15 mA in idle condition.
● 45 mA during the ring.
● 25 mA during speech conditions.

2.1 Level Crossing Gate Control & Monitoring System Based On Wired &
Wireless (VHF) Communication:
The objective of this System is to provide reliable recorded Data & Voice Communication
between Station and Level Crossing Gates for exchange of Private Number amongst Station
Master and Gatemen for Closing/Opening of Gates.

RDSO Specification no.: RDSO/SPN/TC/49/2020 Ver. 1.0

This specification covers two types of equipment, having the same objective but different
operation. One is covered as “Part – A” and the other is covered as “Part – B”. Whereas the
former covers the Standard configuration of Station Equipment which shall be able to control 8
(Eight) Gates each on either side of the Station from the Station Equipment; the latter covers the
Optional configuration of Station Equipment which shall be able to control upto 6 (six) Gates on
either side of the Station from the Station Equipment, as described below:

PART –A:

2.1.1 SYSTEM OVERVIEW:

1. The system shall be designed in such a way that ASM shall be able to control at least 8
(Eight) gates each on either side of the Station / Cabin from his ASM equipment (in total
16 gates). However this can be increased or decreased depending upon the user‟s
requirement.

2. The message sent by ASM meant for a particular LC gate shall go to that gate only.

3. The message shall be initiated by pressing certain keys (push buttons) provided on the
equipment. On operation of keys by ASM from his equipment, electronically recorded
messages shall play in voice form in LC Gate Equipment and ASM should get its
acknowledgment automatically and vice-versa. It should be possible to send actual voice
messages of ASM to LC gates.

4. The message shall be in Hindi, English or any regional language. Any two languages
depending upon the requirement of the Railway can be selected while placing order to the
RDSO approved manufacturer.

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 17

5. The System shall follow the method of exchanging private number between ASM and LC
gate man as per Railway board Safety circular No. 2000/Safety(A&R)/19/39 dated
08.05.2002 or latest.

6. ASM equipment shall have keys like CALL, CLOSE, OPEN etc., so that ASM shall be
able to give information to the Gate man by pressing appropriate keys. The keys should be
symbolized and made colorful to make equipment more user friendly. LCD panel provided
on the equipment shall indicate the keys, pressed by ASM, private number inserted by
ASM etc. The SEND key must be there to send the information to the respective gates.
The ASM equipment will have an LCD Panel and Gate Status Response Panel. The LCD
panel shall be of 16 Characters x 2 Lines and Gate Status Response Panel for the
information of configured gates and private no. sent by gates. Typical Gateman Specific
Request Panel (GSRP) Layout is mentioned in Figure below.

Figure 9: Gateman Specific Request Panel (GSRP)

7. LC gate equipment shall have similar types of keys like CLOSE, PROBLEM, OPEN etc.,
so that LC gate man shall be able to send his request or information to the ASM. LCD
panel provided on the equipment shall indicate the key pressed, private number inserted by
LC gate man etc. LCD panel shall be of 16 Characters x 2 Lines.

8. In case LC gate man is unable to execute the order of ASM for closing the gate, he will
immediately press the PROBLEM key with a private number, which will intimate ASM
about his inability. In Addition to that gateman should be able to promptly communicate
with ASM with the help of Telephone provided with the equipment.

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 18

9. All the events like gate CLOSING, OPENING, PROBLEM, MESSAGES, VOICE
MESSAGE etc must be stored in the data-logger of ASM and LC gate Equipment with
Date, Time, Train Number, Gate Number and Exchanged Private Number of ASM and
gateman, which can be retrieved from both - ASM Equipment and LC Gate Equipment -
either on laptop or on a DOT matrix printer.

10. ASM Equipment and LC gate equipment should be protected suitably by assigning
password. Without the correct password it shall not be possible to change the settings of
parameters of the equipment. Settings of parameters mean programming of Gate ID,
Controller (ASM) ID, Date, Time etc. Provision shall be made on the equipment itself for
setting the parameters with the help of assigned keys by authorized Railway personnel.

11. When a station master/ASM or LC gate man wishes to have voice communication, the
same shall be possible by using Microphone or Telephone instrument provided on the
equipment.

12. Voice Communication should be recorded with Date & Time stamping on it. Voice
Storage Device shall be part of ASM Equipment. The ASM equipment and LC Gate
equipment shall be provided with mechanical Locking arrangement to prevent
unauthorized operation of the System. However System Power shall remain in “ON”
condition to receive incoming messages and information.

13. The system should have a group messaging facility so that ASM on duty can send a single
private number (PN) to all the gates under his control. Individual gates however will
transmit individual private numbers.

14. The ASM equipment shall be provided with a microphone so that ASM on duty can
verbally advise to gatemen about the train information. The microphone shall Switch-on
for voice messaging with RED LED Indication only after entering its two digit private
number by ASM.

15. The ASM equipment should have provision to display PN of each closing gate on the
Gateman Specific Request Panel (GSRP) of ASM Equipment, which will have seven
segments display.

16. It should also have a yellow LED to indicate pending Gateman requests of each concerned
gate; it should be possible to display the status of pending requests of gatemen on GSRP
(Gateman Specific Request Panel) for each gate separately below seven segment display
till such time it is acknowledged by ASM.

17. A Reset button shall be provided on GSRP of ASM equipment to reset received PN.

18. An External arrangement will have to be made for light so that the keyboard and LCD
Panel can be seen during night, where there is no provision of electricity at the GATE

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 19

LODGE / GOOMTI. The LED / Bulb of 12V DC/15- 35 mA current consumption along
with ON/OFF switch shall be provided for illumination and the same shall be connected
with the battery and shall be used only in the night at the time of use of LC Gate
equipment. The cabinet of the equipment shall be powder coated with light colour like off-
white, Grey etc.

2.1.2 System Features:

1. The system shall be designed using micro-controller with a data and voice storage and
retrieval facilities.

a. ASM equipment shall have facility to instruct the gateman for Opening or closing
of the gate with scheme of exchanging private number as per Railway board
directives for different types of manned level crossing gates. Selected train number,
gate number, private number shall be visible on LCD panel of the ASM unit before
the SEND button is pressed by ASM. Gate Status Response Panel shall display the
status of configured gates and private no. sent by gatemen.

b. ASM equipment shall have locking facility of Keypad when all configured gates
have sent their private nos.

c. The system should have a group messaging facility so that SM on duty can send a
single private number (PN) to all the gates under his control. Individual gates
however will transmit individual private numbers

d. At the selected LC gate the message in the local language for expected arrival time
of train, its number and direction with private number shall be communicated and
remain in repeat mode. Acknowledgment of commencement of playing of message
on LC gate equipment should be provided on ASM unit by automatic glow of ACK
LED.

e. Gate man shall inform the Opening of LC Gate to the ASM by pressing OPEN
Switch. Local voice message for requesting to open the gate shall be repeated at the
ASM unit.

f. ASM units shall have capability to instruct the gate man to OPEN the gate. Voice
message of opening the gate should be played through speakers in the LC gate unit.

g. Similarly ASM units shall have capability to instruct the gate man not to open the
gate. Voice message shall be played through speakers in the LC gate unit advising
not to open the gate.

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 20

Gate Status Response Panel for Pvt. No Display and Message Status

LEDs for LCG equipment Indications and Voice recording Indications

LCD for Pvt. No. Display and Text Message Input

Handsfree Microphone for Voice Messaging

Keypad for Text Messaging

Telephone Instrument for Voice Calling

Figure 10: Station Equipment

2. Inability for closing the gate for any unforeseen reason can also be informed by the gate
man to the ASM by pressing the PROBLEM button with a private number. Local voice
message of LC gate problem with private number shall be played through speaker in the
ASM unit. In addition to that, Gateman shall immediately talk to ASM / SM on duty by
using Telephone provided on the equipment. Whenever voice communication takes place,
it will be recorded in Voice Storage Device of ASM Equipment with Date and Time
stamping on it.

3. Priority of Emergency Call over On-going Call: Whenever ASM is having

communication with any of the Gatemen and then another Gateman shall not be able to
listen to the ongoing conversation. However if any other gate man shall have an urgent
message to be conveyed to the ASM, then he shall be able to send the message to the ASM
by pressing the PROBLEM Button with private No. The same shall be displayed on the
LCD of ASM Unit with RED LED indication. The emergency message is also be played /
reproduced on the ASM unit. In that case ASM shall promptly attend the emergency call
by terminating the On-Going Voice Communication.

4. Announcement of voice message shall continue in the ASM unit, unless and until the
“ACK” button of ASM unit is pressed by ASM/SM on duty.

5. Announcement of voice message shall continue in the LC gate unit, unless and until the
“ACK” button of LC gate unit is pressed by Gateman on duty.

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 21

Wireless Medium

Night Lamp

LC Gate Equipment Control Line Surge Protection

RADIO Cable RG
217

Solar Panel 2W/4W Omnibus cable

12V Battery

Wired Medium

Telephone Instrument
L
Power Line
Surge Protection 220V AC to12V
N Between L-N DC convertor
and N-PE
PE

Figure 11: LC Gate Equipment

6. Voice communication shall be possible through telephone between ASM and gateman.
Voice communication shall be duplex when the system is working on 2- wire Physical
Line. Similarly voice communication shall be semi duplex/ simplex when the system is
working through wireless on VHF radio set. All Voice Communication shall be recorded
in Voice Storage Device of ASM Equipment.

7. On either side, there may be a number of level crossing gates which are required to be
CLOSED / OPENED; there shall be a facility of “Group Messaging” to all the gates to
facilitate quick transfer of same information to all the gates on either side depending on the
requirement (Upside or Downside). However information received from the LC Gate
shall be in serial mode and t h e same shall be recordedwith time and date.

8. Normally voice as well as data communication between ASM unit and LC gate unit will
be through 2-wire physical media. In case of LINE failure, alternate wireless medium shall
work. There shall be dynamic switching to select the first available working medium.
“LINE” or “RADIO” indications shall appear on the ASM unit as well as the LC gate
unit. So that maintenance staff is made available without delay in case of LINE failure.

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 22

9. System must have a provision to operate from any of the two available sources of power
supply i.e. Electricity and Battery. However Solar Panel must be another source to charge
the battery and this shall not be part of the equipment.

10. System shall have facility to exchange Private Number for different type of gates as
described in Railway Board safety circular no. 2000/safety (A&R)/19/39.

11. Communication Link between ASM and LC Gate equipment: The system shall be capable
of working both on wired (2-wire) and wireless (25 watts VHF radio set). When the
system is working on a physical line, the Radio set shall be in hot standby mode so that in
case of any failure of Physical Line, the system should automatically switch over to
wireless communication with an indication on LCD panel as well as glow of RED LED
provided on the equipment. It should automatically switch back to the physical line when
it is restored.

2.1.3 SYSTEM OPERATION:

The system shall have capability to automatically search the available medium of communication
that is 2-wire and wireless. Preference of working shall be given to 2-wire. In case 2-wire media is
defective or not available; system will automatically select wireless as the medium of
communication. The system shall be capable of working either on 2-wire physical line or Wireless
or on both the mediums.

ASM Equipment [Through Keyboard]:

 On Pressing "CLOSE" button, the word "CLOSE” will be displayed on the LCD panel.
Thereafter the Gate Number (GATE :--), Private number (PVTN :--), Direction of arrival
train (UPDN :--) and Train number (TRN :---) can be inserted by keyboard and the
information can be sent to the respective gate by pressing SEND button.

 On Pressing "OPEN" button, the word “OPEN” will be displayed on the LCD panel.
Thereafter the Gate number (GATE :--), Private number (PVTN :--) can be inserted by
keyboard and sent the information to the respective gate by pressing SEND button.

 Whenever ASM equipment sends the information by pressing the SEND button, „ACK‟
LED will glow. After confirmation of reception of the message at the appropriate gate,
„ACK‟ LED will go-off.

 After closing the gate, gate man shall press CLOSE button and enter the private No. and
press the SEND Button to transfer the information from LC Gate Equipment to ASM
Equipment The received message will be displayed on LCD panel and once the ASM unit
receives Gate CLOSE confirmations of all gates, the seven segment displays and LEDs on
the GSRP must start flashing and the ASM units keypad must get locked so that ASM unit

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 23

must not send any command, as well as playing of Voice message on speaker. In addition
to that “CLOSE” LED will glow on ASM Equipment.

 In case of any problem with the LC Gate or any untoward incident, the Gateman shall send
the information to the ASM by pressing the PROBLEM button from his equipment with
Private Number. ASM equipment will get visual indication on LCD Panel, Voice message
on speaker with a Glow of “PROBLEM” Red LED.

 On receipt of “Gate Opening” request from Gateman, on ASM equipment there will be
Voice message as well as Glow of “OPEN” LED.

 In case of 2-W physical line fault, the message will be automatically transmitted through
Wireless media with the indication „RADIO MODE‟ LED glowing along with Display on
the LCD Panel.

 „PTT‟ LED shall glow in case of Voice Communication through Telephone on Wireless
media between ASM and LC Gate man. The PTT (Press to Talk) switch and LED shall be
energized with VOX (Voice Operated Switch).

ASM Equipment [Through Microphone]:

 Press CALL Key. The cursor will point at GATE entry on LCD screen Equipment is
ready to send voice message to all UP Gates or all DOWN Gates. Press Left Arrow
Key for sending voice message to all UP Gates. Press Right Arrow Key for sending
voice message to all DOWN Gates.

 Now cursor moves to PVTN entry on LCD screen. Here enter two digit numeric private
number of this Voice Message and press SEND Key.

 Once acknowledgement is received from any of the gates, Red LED of MICROPHONE
will turn on and Microphone is open to record your message for a maximum of 30
seconds duration.

 Start speaking required message, till 30 seconds. If message is finished before 30

seconds, then press CALL Key again to disconnect. The MICROPHONE LED will turn
off and LCD screen will show as follows:

Now Private Numbers will be received for close confirmation from LC Gate
Equipments to whom Voice Message was sent. The Private Numbers from LC Gate
Equipments will be visible on GSRP, attached to the ASM Equipment.

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 24

Figure 12: Network Diagram of Station - Level Crossing Gate Private Number Exchanger on Wired and
Wireless modes

LC Gate Equipment [Through Keyboard]:

 On pressing „CLOSE‟ button the word “GATE CLOSE” will appear in the LCD panel
thereafter by inserting Private No, the message can be sent to ASM Equipment by pressing
„SEND‟ button.

 On Pressing „PROB‟ button the word “GATE PROBLEM” will appear in the LCD panel
thereafter by inserting Private No., the message can be sent to ASM Equipment by
pressing „SEND‟ button.

 On pressing „OPEN‟ button the word “GATE OPEN” shall appear in the LCD panel and
message can be sent to the ASM equipment by pressing „SEND‟ button.

 When the LC Gate equipment receives any message from ASM equipment, voice message
will play in the LC gate equipment. On pressing „ACK‟ button the voice message can be
muted.

 Whenever LC gate equipment sends the information by pressing SEND button, „ACK‟
LED will glow. After confirm reception of the message at ASM Equipment, „ACK‟ LED
will glow OFF.

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 25

 On receipt of “Gate Open Message” from ASM equipment, there will be voice message on
the speaker with an indication of „OPEN‟ LED.

 Incase 2-wire physical line fault, the message will be automatically transmitted through
wireless media with the indication „RADIO MODE‟ LED glowing along with Display on
the LCD Panel.

 „PTT‟ LED shall glow in case of voice communication through telephone on wireless
between LC gate man and ASM. The PTT (Press to Talk) LED and switch shall be
energized with VOX (Voice Operated Switch).

LC Gate Equipment [Through Microphone]:

 On receiving, Voice Message from Station, following Menu appears on the equipment
LCD screen:

PVTN -11
PVTN – 11 is Station Master’s Private Number
LIVE RECORDING

LIVEMessage
 Voice RECORDING
from Station will be heard live on LC Gate Equipment Speaker.

 After receipt of disconnect signal from ASM equipment or a timeout of 30 seconds the
recorded announcement starts repeating, following Menu appears on LC Gate Equipment
LCD screen:

PVTN -11
PVTN – 11 is Station Master’s Private Number
PLAYING RECORD

 NowLIVE
theRECORDING
same message from station will keep playing on LC Gate Equipment Speaker.

 Press Ack Key to mute Voice Message from Station. On Pressing Ack Key, Voice
Message from Station stops playing and Pvt. No. announcement starts and following Menu
appears on LC Gate Equipment LCD screen

PVTN -11
PVTN – 11 is Station Master’s Private Number
PLAYING PVTN

LIVE RECORDING
Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022
CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 26

PART –B:

2.2.1 SYSTEM OVERVIEW:

The objective of this System is to provide reliable recorded Data & Voice Communication
between Station and Level Crossing Gates for exchange of Private Number amongst Station
Master and Gatemen for Closing/Opening of Gates.

This specification covers following two configuration of Station Equipment depending upon
purchasers requirement :

(i) Standard configuration of Station Equipment shall be able to control 4 (four)

Gates on either side of the Station from his Station Equipment.

(ii) Optional configuration of Station Equipment shall be able to control 6 (six)

Gates on either side of the Station from his Station Equipment.

1. The system should be designed in such a way that it should be able to control & monitor
gate operation messages for different types of Manned Level crossing gates. The Manned
Level Crossing Gates (LC Gates) over Indian Railways are classified in following broad
categories:

A) Non-Interlocked:

I. Engineering LC Gate, Non-Interlocked, Normally Open to Road Traffic

II. Engineering LC Gate, Non-Interlocked, Normally Closed to Road Traffic

III. Traffic LC Gate, Non-Interlocked, Normally Close to Road Traffic

B) Interlocked:

I. Engineering LC Gate, Interlocked, Normally Open to Road Traffic

II. Traffic LC Gate, Interlocked, Normally Open to Road Traffic

The Station Equipment of the system shall be configurable to accommodate any

combination of Category of LC Gates on either side of the Station, as per the user‟s
requirement.

2. It shall be possible to configure LC Gate Equipment to meet various requirements for

working interlocked & non-interlocked LC Gates based on site requirement. For
interlocked gates the open, close buttons and seven segments display may be made
disabled at the time of installation, as there are no requirements of private number
exchange between Station Master & Gate as per Station/ Gate Working Rule of
Station/Gate.

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 27

3. Station Equipment and LC Gate Equipment shall be suitable for working in Single Line,
Double Line and Multiple Lines.

4. All the messages like Gate Closing, Gate Opening and intimation etc. must be stored in the
Data Logger of Station Equipment and LC Gate Equipment with Date, Time, Train No.,
Gate Number, Exchanged Private Number of Station Master and Gateman. It should be
possible to retrieve this Data by connecting the Laptop to a Port provided on the
equipment. Further it should be possible to check previously stored data on “Display” of
the equipment using SCROLL UP & SCROLL DOWN Keys.

5. The Solid-state Disk Drive (SDD) storage device should be provided for logging data/
voice. In addition to SDD, data/ voice logging should be recorded simultaneously in
FLASH memory, which should be removable for taking to the control office for any post-
incident investigation.

6. There shall be provision of Ethernet port based on TCP/IP protocol for connection of
Station Equipment/Gate Equipment to an intranet.

7. When Station Master or Gateman wishes to have voice communication, the same shall be
possible by using Telephone Instrument provided with the equipment.

Figure 13: Communication arrangement between Station and LC Gates

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 28

8. System display shall indicate “G” followed by numeric number of Goods / Service trains,
which should be fed by Station Master by pressing “G” button followed by numeric
number with the help of Key board of SM Equipment.

2.2.2 System Features:

1. “Station Equipment” and “LC Gate Equipment” shall be provided with mechanical Key-
Locking arrangement to prevent unauthorized operation of the system. “Station
Equipment” and “LC Gate Equipment” shall operate only when keyed in. When Key is
taken out, these equipments shall hold in their last operated position. However during Key-
Out position, System Power shall remain in ON condition and these equipments shall
continue to receive messages and also continue to play Audio Messages. In “Telephone
Mode” even if Key is taken out, Telephone will continue to work.

2. The private number shall require to be fed by the Station Master and Gateman using
“Station Equipment” and “LC Gate Equipment”.

3. The Message sent by Station Master from Station Equipment for a particular LC Gate shall
go to that LC Gate Equipment only. Similarly the Message from LC Gate Equipment
shall go to concerned Station Equipment only. As such Station Equipment is provided with
“Station Id” and LC Gate Equipments are provided with “Gate Id”. These “Station Id”
and “Gate Id” are only for internal working of equipments and Station Master & Gateman
are not required to be concerned for these Ids.

4. The Audio Message shall be in Hindi, English or any Regional Language. Selection of any
two languages depending upon the requirement of the Zonal Railway shall be possible and
it should be configured during installation of the equipment. As the display at LC Gate
Equipment & Station Equipment will show only numbers and symbols, the display will be
in English Only.

5. Configuration of “Station Equipment” and “LC Gate Equipment” shall be carried

preferably using Dip Switches/Jumper Settings. Configurable features include “Station Id”,
“Gate Id”, “Gate Category”, “Language” etc.

6. Programming of “Station Equipment” and “LC Gate Equipment” should be protected

suitably using User Id and Password. Without correct User Id and Password it shall not be
possible to change the setting of parameters of the equipment like “Gate Number”,
“Station Name”, Date, Time etc.

7. Data Logging in “Station Equipment” and “LC Gate Equipment” will record all the
messages related to operation automatically duly Date & Time Stamped. These recorded
events shall also be retrieved using Laptop.

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 29

8. During Failure of “Station Equipment” and/or “LC Gate Equipment” it shall be possible
for Station Master and Gateman to Switch-Over to “Telephone Mode” by manually
operating “Standby/Main Switch”. In this mode Electronic Circuitry of equipments will be
completely bypassed and Telephone Instruments will be directly connected to 2-Wire
Omnibus Line. During this “Telephone Mode”, following facilities using Inbuilt
Electronic Circuitry of Telephone Instruments shall be available: In Telephone Mode,
Telephones shall work in Master-Slave configuration. Station Telephone will work as
“Master” and LC Gate Telephones will work as “Slave” respectively.

9. Station Telephone will have the facility to call any of the LC Gates individually by
pressing corresponding “Gate Switch” designated for a particular gate or to call all LC
Gates collectively by “ALL Call Switch Button”. When Master presses “ALL CALL
Switch/Button, all the Gate Telephones are activated and can converse to the Master as
well as among them.

10. In addition to these switches, Station Telephone shall have another “Disconnect
Switch/Button” for disconnecting All Gate Telephones. All the Gate Telephones will be
disconnected and Indicating LED on Station Telephone meant for all the Gate Telephones
will go OFF, when Disconnect switch of Master Telephone is pressed.

11. Gate Telephone will have the facility to send an indication to Station Telephone that it
wants to talk to the Station Master. The Gate Telephone will have only one switch/button
by pressing which it will draw the attention of the Station Master.

12. Unless permitted and activated by the Station Master, “Gate to Station” or “Gate to Gate”
or “Station to Gate” conversation shall not be possible. Only when Station Master presses
“Gate Switch” designated for a particular gate, that Gate Telephone will be activated for
conversation.

13. When SM is having communication with any Gateman, then another Gateman shall not be
able to listen to the ongoing conversation. Only when Station Master presses two or more
Gate Switches/Button, those Gates are activated and will be able to converse to the Master
as well as between them. The activated Gate Telephone will remain activated for
conversation even if the handset of the master telephone is placed on the hook so that
conversation between the Gate Telephones can continue.

14. Voice recording at “Station Equipment” shall be provided, which will record all the Voice
Communication taking place between Station Master and Gateman in both modes
(Main/standby). These Voice Recordings can be retrieved by transferring it to a Laptop. If
Voice Recording is not taking place, it should be reported by “Alarm”.

15. In case Gateman is unable to execute the order of Station Master for closing the gate, he
will immediately talk to Station Master over Telephone. As such Gate man should be able

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 30

to promptly communicate with Station Master with the help of Telephone Instrument
provided with the equipment. As such even without switching over to Telephone Mode,
Telephonic Feature (as given in para 8 above) shall be available using Electronic Circuitry
of Station Equipment and/or LC Gate Equipment. During this Voice Conversation details
like call direction, called/calling gate will be recorded.

16. Voice Communication shall be Duplex when the system is working on a Physical Line.
Similarly Voice Communication shall be Semi-Duplex/Simplex when the system is
working through Wireless on VHF Radio Sets.

2.3 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS OF TELEPHONE INSTRUMENTS:

1. The Telephone Instrument provided with Station Equipment will be called Station
Telephone and Telephone Instrument provided with Gate Equipment will be called Gate
Telephone.

2. Station Telephone and Gate Telephone shall work in Master-Slave Mode, with Station
Telephone as Master and Gate Telephone as Slave.

3. Station Telephone shall have the facility to call individually any of the LC Gates by
pressing the corresponding Push Button switch designated for a particular LC Gate
Telephone. LC Gates which are not called by Station Master should neither be able to
listen nor talk.

Station Telephone shall also have the facility to call collectively all the gates by “ALL
CALL” Push Button. On pressing this button, a general ring will go to all the Gate
Telephones simultaneously. For imparting certain common instruction simultaneously or
for conference purposes this ALL CALL general ring will be used.

In addition to these Push Buttons, Station Telephone shall have another Push Button
“DISCONNECT” for disconnecting the Gate Telephone(s). When this switch is pressed,
all the Gate Telephone(s) connected in the circuit will be deactivated and speech will not
be through to and from those Gate Telephone(s).

4. Gate Telephone will have the facility to send an indication to the Station Telephone that
it wants to talk to the Station Master. The Gate Telephone will have only one Push Button
by pressing which it will draw the attention of the Station Master.

5. DTMF Codes for above activities are predefined. These Two-Digit DTMF Codes shall be
generated by pressing Single Push Button or by an action of Handset. Duration of Code
will be as per 200 + 50 ms (Presence Time), 100 + 50 ms (Absence Time).

6. The Station Telephone and Gate Telephone shall permit working of Voice Communication
and Signaling on 2-Wire Omnibus Circuit.

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 31

7. It shall be possible to send the signaling codes even when two or more parties are in
conversation.

AUDIO-VISUAL INDICATIONS:

i) Master Telephone:

Power ON LED is of Green colour and will glow when handset of the
Power ON LED: telephone is lifted. This LED is to be fixed on the right hand side of the
telephone.
Eight/Twelve Red colored LEDs will be provided near the
Eight/Twelve Calling push switches. Gate telephone numbers shall be
suitably printed to designate the push switch and the LED. When a
Gateman calls Station Master by pressing the CALL ASM switch, the
corresponding LED in Master Telephone will blink, as well as a piezo
buzzer will sound. This blinking LED will glow steadily when master
Calling Indications:
presses the corresponding push switch.
This LED will also glow steadily when Master calls some gate by
pressing the corresponding switch.
These LEDs will go OFF when “Disconnect” switch is pressed.
A piezo buzzer will also sound when it is being called by the gate
telephone andit should generate an interrupted / musical sound.

ii) Gate Telephone:

This is of Green color and will glow when handset of the telephone is
Power ON LED: lifted. This is to be fixed on the right hand side of the telephone.
A Red colour LED will be in the left side of the telephone. This LED
will glow when Master calls the Gate. This LED will go OFF when the
Calling Indications: handset of the telephone is lifted. The LED will glow and Piezo
Buzzer will also sound both in
ON hook and OFF hook condition.
Ring Back Tone (RBT) will be sent back to the Master Telephone when
Ring back Tone : a Gate Telephone Rings. The level of RBT at the Gate Telephone
output point will be more than –12 dBm.

2.4 TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS OF TELEPHONE INSTRUMENTS:

1. The telephone shall be protected from Surge and Transients by using “GDT”, “PTC”
“MOVR” and Inductor based surge protection systems.

2. The receiver of the telephone instrument shall be protected from acoustic shocks by
providing two rectifiers in parallel and with opposite polarity across the receiver.

3. Workmanship should conform to good engineering practice so as to ensure that the

instrument is free from defects, rust, cracks and other defects that could impair the
operation or serviceability while in use or under storage. The treatment and finishes

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 32

shall be such that under operating conditions, no deterioration occurs to any of the parts.

4. All the components, switches, connectors etc. shall be of High Quality/Industrial Grade.
The LED indicators wherever used shall be of superior quality wide angle with metallic
holders. The component type numbers shall not be defaced.

5. The layout of components and wiring shall be such that all parts are easily accessible for
inspection, repair and replacement.

6. The Master and Gate Telephones should work properly from individual DC Power
sourceof 12 V DC + 20%.

7. Unless permitted and activated by the Master, “Gate to Master” or “Gate to Gate” or
“Master to Gate” conversation should not be possible. Only when Master presses a
particular key designated for a particular Gate, that Gate Telephone will be activated for
conversation.

8. Only when Master presses two or more Gate switches, those Gates are activated and
will be able to converse to the Master as well as between them. The activated Gate
Telephone will remain activated for conversation even if the handset of the master
telephone is placed on the hook so that conversation between the Gate Telephones can
continue. The Gate Telephone will be disconnected and Indicating LED on Master
telephone meant for that particular Gate Telephone will go OFF, when the handset of
that particular Gate Telephone is placed on the hook.

9. In Telephone Mode, all the Telephones connected should work from this Single Power
Source and no separate Power supply shall be provided at the Gates.

10. When in Telephone Mode and available voltage at a Gate Telephone is less than 9.6
Volt at the time of All Call Ringing (due to Longer Distance or due to High Conductor
Loop Resistance or due to Location of other Telephones), the Gate Telephones should
work satisfactorily with individual Power Supply arrangement of 12 V DC+20%.

11. Current consumption by the telephones at 12 V DC shall not be more than the limits
mentioned below:

For Master Telephone:

● 15 mA in idle condition.
● 200 mA during the ring with all 12 LEDs glowing.
● 40 mA during speech conditions.

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 33

For Slave Telephone:

● 15 mA in idle condition.
● 35 mA during the ring.
● 25 mA during speech conditions.

2.5 GENERAL SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS (Applicable for both Part - A & Part - B
Equipments):

Electrical Parameters for ASM Equipment and LC Gate Equipment:

Sl. No Parameters Characteristics

A1 Power Supply SMPS based battery charger
Input: 165 V to 260 V AC,
50Hz
Output: 12 V DC +/- 10 %, 15A
6 Amp max on wireless
A2 Current Consumption
800 mA max on 2–wire physical line
A3 Event Logging
i Number of Data events Min 1 lac
ii Real Time Clock Year, Month, Date, Hour and Minute
iii Print-out By connecting an DOT Matrix / inkjet
iv Voice Data Storage Capacity printer.Min 70 Hours
A4 Speaker Output Level 3 Watts
A5 Microphone Impedance 1 K
A6 Gate Identification number Two digits
A7 LCD display 16 x 2 alphanumeric, with back-lit LED
A8 RTC Battery backup Min one year
The seven segment LED display must be
used for Pvt. No display. It must be of Green
GSRP (For Part-A ASM
B1 Color and minimum 12 mm height. The Gate
Equipment Only)
Status Response Panel must operate on 12V
DC (+/- 20%) supply.

ELECTRICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

A1 Frequency Range – MHz 146 - 174

A2 Bandwidth – MHz 10
A3 Impedance – Ohms 50 unbalanced
A4 VSWR – less than 1.5
RF Power handling capacity –
A5 100
Watt
A6 Termination UHF – female
A7 Lightening Protection Direct Ground

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 34

2.6 Power Supply Arrangement:

A. Station equipment: SMPS Power Supply shall be supplied along-with Station Equipment,
Power Supply shall consist of Battery Charger having 165-260 V, 50Hz AC Input Power Supply
and having following outputs:

 27.2V +/- 0.5V DC, Output with current capacity of Minimum 15 Amp. ( For
feeding power to telephone instrument at LC Gates from centralized place in
“Standby Mode”)

 11.4 V –13.2 V DC Output with current capacity of Minimum 10 Amp (For Local
Use)

Power Supply in addition to supplying the load shall also Charge 24 Volt (12V + 12V) Sealed
Maintenance Free Battery, provided for backup of at least 24 hours. The capacity of battery shall
not be less than 120 AH.

B. Gate equipment: SMPS Power Supply shall be supplied along with each LC Gate Equipment.
This SMPS Power Supply shall work with 165-260 V, 50Hz AC Input Power Supply and produce
11.4V –13.2 V DC Output Power supply with current capacity of Minimum 10 Amp. Power
Supply in addition to supplying the load shall also Charge 12 Volt Sealed Maintenance Free
Battery. The capacity of 12 Volts sealed Maintenance Free Battery shall be 120 AH. The Sealed
Maintenance Free Battery is provided for backup of at least 96 Hours (for wired operation).

2.7 Voice & Data Logging Features:

A) Voice Logging: The system should be designed in such a way that it should have built-in
arrangement to process, record and store any ongoing voice communication from ASM Unit to LC
Gate Units and Vice Versa. The recording and storage of voice communication should start as
soon as call is established between ASM Unit and LC Gate Units and the same should be
terminated with the replacement of handset of the telephone instrument provided with LC Gate
and ASM Units. The recorded voice data shall be stored with date and time stamping. The storage
of voice data should be arranged in FIFO architecture and in no way it should get corrupted once it
is stored.

The voice communication file storage device should have provision of its removal in case of
emergency but it has to be interfaced in such a way that removal should not be possible by an
unauthorized or unwanted person.

There shall not be any compression of the input voice signal to retain the originality of the
recorded voice communication. The storage device recording capacity shall be 70 Hrs. min.

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 35

B) Data Logging: The system shall have a Data Logger to record all the events automatically with
Date, Time, Train Number, Direction, Gate Number and exchanged Private Number between
ASM and LC gateman, which can be retrieved by connecting a printer or data can be transferred to
LAPTOP. The data of events shall be simultaneously logged in both ASM and LC Gate
Equipment. The timing of all the gate telephones connected with the ASM unit shall be
synchronized with the ASM clock once in 24 hour. Data Storage Capacity: ASM equipment and
LC gate equipment shall have facility to store minimum one-lakh events. The data shall be stored
in the FLASH EEPROM memory so that the stored events cannot be erased in case of power
failure or fluctuations. When the Flash EEPROM memory will be full with the logged data, then
“FIRST IN” information will be “FIRST OUT” from the memory i.e. the system will follow FIFO
architecture.

C) Retrieval of Voice Communication Data: There shall be an Ethernet interface port through
which stored voice data can be transferred from ASM Unit to any PC / Laptop for listening and
taking backup on CD / DVD media. If required, voice can be retrieved, played and listened
through the speaker provided in the ASM Unit by simple operation using the keyboard of the unit.
Facility shall also be available for selection of any voice/ data for playing by entering desired date
and time for specified duration.

In case of any problem in voice recording, there shall be a visual alarm to draw the attention of the
ASM on duty, the same shall keep on glowing till such time acknowledged by the ASM.

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 36

References
1) Guidelines & policy letters on the subject
2) Product catalogue & specifications of M/s. Epsilon Electronic Eqpmt. &
Components Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad
3) Product catalogue & specifications of M/s. AE Telelink Systems Ltd., New Delhi
4) RDSO SPECIFICATION NO. RDSO/SPN/TC/51-2021 Rev. 1.0 (w. e. f.
01.07.2021)
5) Information available online.
6) M/s Epsilon Electronic Eqpmt. & Components Pvt. Ltd. – PPT slides on “LC Gate
Telephone system with Voice Logger”.
7) M/s AE TELELINK Systems Ltd. – PPT slides on “Level Crossing Gate Control &
Monitoring Equipment based on Wired & Wireless Communication”
8) IR P. WAY Manual
9) RDSO SPECIFICATION NO. RDSO/SPN/TC/49-2020 Ver. 1.0 (w. e. f.
31.12.2020)
10) Other Documents related with the subject.

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 37

CAMTECH Publications
CAMTECH is continuing its efforts in the documentation and up-gradation of information on
maintenance practices of Signalling & Telecom assets. Over the years a large number of
publications on Signalling & Telecom subjects have been prepared in the form of handbooks,
pocket books, pamphlets and video films. These publications have been uploaded on the internet as
well as Railnet.
For downloading these publications
On Internet:
Visit www.rdso.indianrailways.gov.in
Go to Directorates → CAMTECH Gwalior → Other Important links → Publications for download
- S&T Engineering
or click on link
https://rdso.indianrailways.gov.in/view_section.jsp?lang=0&id=0,2,17,6313,6321,6326
On Railnet:
Visit RDSO website at 10.100.2.19
Go to Directorates → CAMTECH → Publications → S&T Engineering
Or click on the link
http://10.100.2.19/camtech/Publications/CAMTECH%20Publications%20Online/SntPub.htm

A limited number of publications in hard copy are also available in CAMTECH library which can
be issued by deputing staff with official letter from controlling officer. The letter should be
addressed to Director (S&T), CAMTECH, Gwalior.
For any further information regarding publications please contact:
Director (S&T) – 0751-2470185 (O)(BSNL)
Librarian - 8957022152 (CUG)
Or
Email at [email protected]
Or
FAX to 0751-2470841 (BSNL)
Or
Write at
Director (S&T)
Indian Railways Centre for Advanced Maintenance Technology,
In front of Hotel Adityaz, Airport Road, Maharajpur,
Gwalior (M.P.) 474005

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR Table of Contents JANUARY/2022

CAMTECH/S/PROJ/2021-22/SP8 38

BLANK PAGE

Electronic LC Gate Communication in IR JANUARY/2022

 Quality Policy

“We at RDSO Lucknow are committed to maintain and update transparent

standards of services to develop safe, modern and cost effective railway
technology complying with statutory and regulatory requirements, through
excellence in research, designs and standards by setting quality objectives,
commitment to satisfy applicable requirements and continual improvements of
the quality management system to cater to growing needs, demand and
expectations of passenger and freight traffic on the railways through periodic
review of quality management systems to achieve continual improvement and
customer appreciation. It is communicated and applied within the organization
and making it available to all the relevant interested parties”.
 INDIAN RAILWAYS
Centre for Advanced Maintenance Technology
Maharajpur, Gwalior (M.P.) – 474 005