2024-09-28 21:32:44
New Delhi: These days the railway network is expanding rapidly. Along with this, the number of railway accidents is also increasing. To curb such incidents, Railways these days is emphasizing on Kavach Automatic Train Protection system. It will be installed on 9,600 kilometers of railway tracks in the coming months. Along with this, 10,000 engines will also be equipped with this equipment. Tender has been issued to complete these works.
Railway Ministry has a big plan
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav has started working simultaneously on many fronts to prevent train accidents. These include reducing the impact of human errors, addressing deficiencies in track maintenance and strengthening basic infrastructure in the coming months. The tender for armor installation on 96,000 route kilometers is being linked to this.
has been deployed in many routes
Railway officials say that Kavach with Safety Integrity Level (SIL)-4 has been installed on many routes. These include a 632 km stretch between Mathura-Palwal and Mathura-Nagda and a 108 km stretch between Kota to Sawai Madhopur. By combining these two routes, it has been installed and tested on 740 kilometers of railway track. Now there is a plan to install this system on 9,600 kilometers of track. Along with this, 10,000 engines will also be equipped with this system.
developed here
The armor was designed in 2016 and given SIL certification in 2019. It was given SIL-4 certification on July 16 this year. In the year 2021, Vaishnav and the then Chairman of the Railway Board had tested the armor by riding in two trains running against each other. The purpose of this test was to build confidence in the armour. However, recent train accidents have raised questions over the effectiveness of the armour.
Armor is more effective and efficient
Vaishnav has stressed that Kavach SIL-4 is more cost-effective and efficient than the European train control system. The armor was envisioned as a replacement for that anti-collision device. ACD was imposed when Mamata Banerjee was the Railway Minister.
Human error is the cause of 80 percent accidents
The Railway Ministry estimates that 80 percent of railway accidents that have occurred in the last few years have been due to driver error or human error. The purpose of installing armor is to prevent accidents caused by human error. The remaining 20 per cent of accidents are caused by deficiencies in track maintenance and problems related to locomotives, wagons and other infrastructure.