Bengal Train Tragedy Puts Focus on Missing Kavach System | Know Its Implementation Status

Kolkata: At least nine died and several others were injured after the Kanchanjunga Express derailed after being hit by a goods train in Darjeeling district on Monday. The train was en route to Sealdah from Tripura's Agartala when the accident took place.

The initial investigation revealed that the goods train rammed into the passengers train from behind, leading to derailment of its two compartments, said officials adding that it was result of ‘human-error’ and ‘signal disregard.’  

Missing Kavach System

The incident renewed focus on the railways' anti-collision system-- ‘Kavach'--that could have thwarted the major train tragedy that shook the entire nation. 

The system is specially designed to prevent accidents caused by Signal Passed at Danger (SPAD), primary reason that led to Kanchanjunga Express mishap. The Railways' anti-collision system can also alert the loco pilot, take control of the brakes, and automatically halt the train when it detects another train on the same track within a specified distance.

Jaya Varma Sinha, the Chairman and CEO of Indian Railway Board, admitted that Kavach system area needs to be expanded to avert such train tragedies in future. “Prima facie suggests human error as the cause. The first indications suggest that this is a case of signal disregard. Kavach needs to proliferated, planned for West Bengal,” she said. 

Know Its Implementation Status

Indigenously designed to enhance safety of running trains, the Kavach system has been deployed on 1,465 route km and 139 locomotives (including Electric Multiple Unit rakes) on South Central Railway.   

Contracts for Kavach have been awarded for the Delhi-Mumbai (including Ahmedabad-Vadodara Section) and Delhi-Howrah (including Lucknow-Kanpur Section) corridors, covering approximately 3,000 route km across Eastern Railway, East Central Railway, North Central Railway, Northern Railway, West Central Railway, and Western Railway.

As per reports, Indian Railways has issued tenders for 10,000 km of Kavach. So far, the Railways has tendered 6,000 km of the Kavach system, said officials.