A tragedy on the Guwahati-Delhi route in West Bengal has forged a highlight on Kavach, an indigenous anti-collision system being applied throughout India’s huge railway community. The accident, the place a items practice rammed into the Sealdah-bound Kanchanjunga Specific, claimed 15 lives and injured over 30. Whereas the reason for the crash is below investigation, the absence of Kavach on the route has sparked vital discussions on the web about prioritizing railway security.
What’s Kavach?
Kavach, which means “armor” in Hindi, is an Computerized Prepare Safety (ATP) system designed and developed in India. It features as an digital defend, continually monitoring the gap between trains and mechanically making use of brakes to forestall collisions in case of sign breaches or driver negligence.
The system works by integrating trackside sensors with the onboard locomotive unit. Trackside transponders transmit information on sign points and line occupation to the locomotive. The onboard unit repeatedly calculates protected braking distances based mostly on velocity and pre-defined parameters. If a scenario arises the place a collision is imminent, Kavach mechanically applies brakes, regardless of the motive force’s actions.
How does it operate?
Kavach mechanically controls practice velocity by making use of brakes if the motive force would not achieve this in time.
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags are positioned on tracks, station yards, and alerts to determine tracks and find the practice and its route. When activated, Kavach stops all trains inside 5 km to permit a practice on an adjoining observe to move safely.
The On Board Show of Sign Facet (OBDSA) helps loco pilots see alerts even in low visibility as a result of dangerous climate. Usually, they should look out the window to identify the alerts.
The protection system alerts the loco pilot when approaching a purple sign and mechanically applies brakes if wanted to forestall passing the sign.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had mentioned in 2022 that he had personally examined the protection system.
“Rear-end collision testing is profitable. Kavach mechanically stopped the locomotive earlier than 380 m of different locomotive on the entrance,” he mentioned in a publish on X.
The system additionally sends SOS messages throughout emergencies.
Kavach is at the moment put in on over 1,500 km of tracks. The federal government deliberate to increase it to 2,000 km of rail community throughout 2022-23, to cowl round 34,000 km. Your entire Indian Railway system spans over 1 lakh kilometers.
