NB Explains | Would Kavach have helped to avoid the tragic Balasore train accident? The answer is....

Hours after 238 passengers were killed in a massive triple train collision in Odisha's Balasore district, the railways confirmed that there was no 'Kavach' system on the route, which might have stopped the express trains from colliding with each other.

 

However, he clarified that they are in the process of installing it across the railway network in India.

 

A high-level probe panel has been set up to look into what happened exactly before the two passenger trains on different lines derailed and collided.

 

Speaking to ANI, the Executive Director, Information Publication Railway Board Amitabh Sharma said, "The rescue operation has been completed, now we are starting the restoration work. 238 people have died and more than 600 are injured. Kawach was not available on this route".

 

 

Soon after this, the dirty game of politics started by the Opposition in this grave hour!

 

As videos of rail minister Ashwini Vaishnaw explaining the Kavach system are doing the rounds, Trinamool's Saket Gokhale asked why only 2% of the total railway routes were brought under Kavach which, Gokhale claimed, was a repackaging of anti-collision device, proposed by Mamata Banerjee when she was the railway minister.

 

"In 2011-12, Indian Railways under then Railways Minister @MamataOfficial developed the "Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS)" system. Modi Govt, after coming to power, typically renamed this to #Kavach purely to take credit. There was ZERO PROGRESS on deploying this crucial rail safety technology until 2019 when 3 companies were approved for manufacturing & installing KAVACH on railways," so-called liberal Saket Gokhale tweeted.

 

 

 

The Kavach technology, in more technical terms, is known as Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) or Automatic Train Protection System (ATP) system. It also supports safety in low-light conditions.  

The Kavach system, alerts when a loco pilot jumps a signal and then takes control of the brakes bringing the train to a halt automatically when it notices another train on the same line. It was announced in 2022 Budger as a part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative. A total of 2,000 km of rail network was planned to be brought under this technology.

 

Kavach is made to avoid head on collisions between engines of two trains approaching on the same track. In this case, Train no. 12864 SMVT Bengaluru – Howrah Superfast Express derailed and crossed the adjacent track from where the Coromandal Express was passing. Since all the trains derailed, Kavach technology couldn't have possibly worked in such a case.

 

So, the unavailability of Kavach was not responsible because the coaches trains were derailed. Sudhanshu Mani, the brain behind Vande Bharat Express, on Saturday, said Kavach could not have averted Friday's tragic Balasore train accident.

 

"Kavach couldn't have stopped this accident. Prima facie this does not look like a case of signalling failure. The root cause looks like the derailment of the first train. The government should investigate why the first train was derailed,” Sudhanshu Mani was quoted as saying to India Today.

 

“The Coromandel Express driver could not have pulled the brakes when he saw the obstruction as the train was running at high speed,” he added.

 

However, he has urged to take steps to avoid derailment.