Railways, high on branding, derails with Ashwini Vaishnaw in command
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Railways crawls with Kavach installation while train mishaps rise
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, June 18: Rail safety measures appear to be crawling under the Narendra Modi-led government. Kavach has been hailed as the principal rail safety gear. Since 2016, the Railways could install Kavach gear in just about 1500 kms of the rail routes.
The ill-fated Kanchanjunga Express may have come unscathed with the help of the Kavach gears. Out of the 68,000 kms of the rail routes, the Railways after rolling out the initiative in 2016 has added just 1500 kms under the safety cover of Kavach.
Nine passengers lost their lives while dozens had been injured in the Kanchenjunga Express train accident in West Bengal. The mishap has once more brought the spotlight on the railway safety.
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The Kavach system has been touted as the panacea against collision between trains for a long time. An indigenously manufactured Kavach system has been developed to prevent collision between trains.
Delhi-Guwahati route is yet to get the high-end safety gear. The Kavach system was developed by Research Design and Standards Organization (RDSO), and a slew of rail firms.
“If the driver fails to apply brakes to prevent collision, then the Kavach system controls the speed of the train. This system informs the train driver about the danger on the track. It also helps in operating the train during fog,” said a senior official of the Railways.
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Kavach works with the help of Radio Frequency Identification Technology. This gives information about the train and the direction from which it is coming.
On the route with Kavach system, two trains coming from the same direction will stop with a gap of five kilometers. Railways issued tenders to install Kavach system on 10,000 kilometers of rail track.
The officials in the railways claim that the cost to install Kavach is too high. It costs ₹50 lakh to cover one km of rail routes. This explains why just 1500 kms of the rail routes have so far been covered under the Kavach system, added an official.
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As many as 139 rail engines are equipped with the Kavach system. Three rail routes in southern parts of the country and one in northern areas in the country have so far been brought under the Kavach safety system.
It is worthwhile to stress that while the technology is indigenously developed the cost has not been brought down to roll out expeditiously with the involvement of a large number of private firms.
In contrast, the Railways with Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw at the helm is driving the branded trains’ rollouts in an aggressive manner. The Railways has unveiled even the sleeper version of the Vande Bharat trains.
But similar zeal is missing to accord priority to the safety aspects in the railways, rued a senior official in the Railway Board.
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