Railway Tunnel Emergency Communication Telephones: The "Lifeline" in a 17-Kilometer Tunnel

Railway tunnels are among the most enclosed and complex

spaces during train operation. In the event of an emergency,

reliable communication is often directly related to train safety

and the safety of personnel. A late-night emergency

communication repair in the Huangyan Tunnel of the

Huaihua-Hengyang Railway on January 25th once again

highlighted the crucial value of railway tunnel emergency

communication telephones.

Extra-long railway tunnels demand higher requirements

for emergency communication.

The Huangyan Tunnel of the Huaihua-Hengyang Railway

is 17,030 meters long, one of the longest railway tunnels

in Central China. The enclosed space and complex

environment within the tunnel lead to rapid signal

attenuation and significant difficulties in construction and

maintenance.

To ensure safe operation, 72 emergency communication

extensions are evenly distributed throughout the tunnel,

forming an emergency communication network covering

the entire tunnel. These devices provide immediate voice

communication between on-site personnel and the control

center in emergency situations such as train malfunctions,

fires, and trapped personnel, serving as an irreplaceable

"rescue hotline" within the tunnel.

Late-night repairs to safeguard the communication "lifeline"

On the night of January 25th, railway communication

maintenance personnel Liu Hao and his colleagues received

an emergency assignment. They set off from the foot of

Xuefeng Mountain and walked for 40 minutes into the depths

of the tunnel to repair the faulty emergency communication

equipment.

Inside the tunnel, the lighting was insufficient, and the

equipment cabinets were cramped. The maintenance

personnel, wearing orange work clothes and headlamps,

checked the lines and terminal status one by one in front

of the equipment. After continuous work, the emergency

communication telephones were restored to normal

operation, and the communication "lifeline" in the tunnel

was once again open.

This repair was not only a piece of equipment maintenance

work but also demonstrated the important role of the railway

emergency communication system at critical moments.

Railway tunnel emergency communication telephones:

The first call at a critical moment

In the railway tunnel environment, ordinary mobile

communication is difficult to maintain stable coverage.

In emergency situations, emergency communication

telephones often become the only reliable means of

communication, and their role is primarily reflected

in the following aspects:

Rapid alerting: On-site personnel can connect directly

to the dispatch center or emergency command

department immediately.

Precise positioning: The accident location can be

quickly identified through the extension number.

Stable and reliable: Wired or dedicated network

transmission ensures strong anti-interference

capabilities.

All-weather protection: Adaptable to complex

environments such as humidity, dust, and vibration

in tunnels.

It is these seemingly "ordinary" telephone devices

that bear the crucial responsibility of ensuring life

safety at critical moments.

The emergency communication system is an

important part of the railway safety system.

Railway safety is not the function of a single device,

but a system engineering. As an important link in the

railway tunnel safety system, emergency communication

telephones operate in conjunction with signaling,

power supply, and fire protection systems to build a

multi-layered safety protection network.

From daily inspections to late-night repairs, from stable

equipment operation to reliable response in emergencies, 

emergency communication telephones silently safeguard

every train passage in the tunnel.