What Is Kavach System Being Widely Discussed After Odisha Train Accident | All You Need To Know

Indian Railways has developed its own automatic train protection system called "Kavach" for enhancing safety of running trains.

New Delhi: Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday said the root cause of the train accident that claimed 275 lives and the people responsible for it have been identified. The minister further added that the inquiry report of the Commissioner of Railway Safety would be known soon. In an interview to state-owned broadcaster Doordarshan Sunday morning at the site of the accident incident, Vaishnaw said,

“The Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) was at the site yesterday… CRS has taken statements from all people, and has proceeded fast. The root cause has been identified – people who have done this work have also been identified. The CRS inquiry report – the reason why the accident happened will also be known early.”

The train accident in Odisha’s Balasore, which killed at least 275 people and injured nearly 1,000, has brought the railways’ automatic train protection system “Kavach” into focus. The railways has said that

“Kavach” was not available on the route where the accident occurred on Friday evening.
The opposition parties launched a scathing attack against the government questioning the absence of the system. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee questioned why the Centre’s ‘Kavach’ system was missing from the route where the collision took place.

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She said the horrific train accident was the “biggest of the century” and a proper investigation was needed to get to the truth. She spoke to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and other senior officials who were already present there.

What is Kavach?

Indian Railways has developed its own automatic train protection system called “Kavach” for enhancing safety of running trains. Kavach has been developed indigenously by the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) in association with three Indian vendors.

Kavach will not only aid loco pilot to avoid signal passing at danger and over-speeding but also help in train running during inclement weather such as dense fog. Thus, Kavach will enhance safety and efficiency of train operations.

Salient features of Kavach

Controls speed of a train by automatic application of brakes in case the loco pilot fails to apply the brakes.
Repeats line-side signal in the cab which is very useful for higher speeds and foggy weather.
Works on the principle of continuous update of movement authority.
Auto whistling at level-crossing gates.
Collision avoidance by direct loco-to-loco communication.
Supports features of SOS in case of any mishap to control train in the vicinity.

Some Important Facts of Kavach:

The Kavach system alerts when a loco pilot jumps a signal (Signal Passed at Danger — SPAD), which is among the leading causes of train collisions.
The system can alert the loco pilot, take control of the brakes and bring the train to a halt automatically when it notices another train on the same line within a prescribed distance.
Trials of Kavach were conducted on the Lingampally-Vikarabad-Wadi and Vikarabad-Bidar sections of South Central Railway
Following successful trials, three vendors were approved for further developmental orders on the Indian Railways network.
The total expenditure incurred on the development of Kavach stands at Rs 16.88 crore.
The roll-out of Kavach is planned on the New Delhi-Howrah and New Delhi-Mumbai sections, with a target completion date of March 2024.
Further expansion will be based on the experience gained from the initial implementation