For brighter visibility of tracks, especially at locations with bends, East Coast Railway (ECoR) has designed, developed and provided 'Four Beam Headlights' on its locomotives. The headlights are first of its kind in Indian Railways. Generally, the locomotives run on Indian Railways are fitted with Twin Beam Headlights where the focus is on a straight line.
The 'Four Beam Headlights' have been developed by the Electric Loco Shed at Visakhapatnam, in which bulbs are arranged in such a way the top two focus in straight line (similar to existing twin beam light) and the bottom bulbs are aimed towards both side of the track.
When a locomotive provided with Four Beam Headlights negotiates a curvature, the bottom bulbs are focused on the curved track. As a result, the driver of the train will be able to see in a better manner the track at curvature including notice of removal of rails, any abnormality on track due to miscreant activities or sudden movement of stray animals.
Consequently, drivers of the train will also be able to reduce the speed of the train, they said.