Kanchanjunga Express train accident: Could ‘Kavach’ have prevented the tragedy?

The collision involving the Sealdah-bound Kanchanjunga Express and a goods train near New Jalpaiguri station in West Bengal has once again put focus on the safety measures needed to prevent such accidents. At least nine people died and 60 were wounded after the loco pilot of the goods train reportedly “disregarded the signal” and crashed into the Kanchenjunga Express.

The tragic incident has raised questions about the deployment of the anti-collision system Kavach. The system also came to the limelight last June when over 288 passengers lost their lives in the ghastly train accident in Odisha’s Balasore district.

But what is this system? How does it work? Has it been adopted across India? Let’s take a closer look.

What is Kavach?

Kavach is an indigenous Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system. Developed by Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) in collaboration with three Indian firms, the system is designed to prevent train accidents due to Signal Passed at Danger (SPAD), as per an Economic Times (ET) report.

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It is a state-of-the-art electronic system that activates the train’s braking system automatically if the driver fails to do it. It was officially adopted as the national automatic train protection system in July 2020.

According to The Hindu, the system helps to prevent trains from crossing the signal at Red – which marks danger – and staves off collision. It also averts collision between two locomotives enabled with functional Kavach systems.

The Safety Integrity Level-4 (SIL-4) certified ‘Kavach’ has an error probability of 1 in 10,000 years, the newspaper reported.

The anti-collision system can also send SoS messages during an emergency.

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It costs Rs 40-50 lakh per kilometre in equipment to deploy the technology in tracks and nearby stations. As per Financial Express, equipping a locomotive with Kavach costs about Rs 70 lakh per unit.

ALSO READ: Kanchanjunga Express Tragedy: How common are train accidents in India? Why do they keep happening?

How does Kavach work?

The Kavach system uses several devices to stop train collisions.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags are integrated into tracks, station yards and signals to identify the tracks and locate the train and its direction.

When the system is on, all trains within a distance of 5 km will come to a halt, allowing the train on an adjacent track to pass safely, reported NDTV.

The driver’s cabin or locomotive is also equipped with RFID readers, a computer, and brake interface equipment, as per Financial Express.

The On Board Display of Signal Aspect (OBDSA) helps pilots spot the signals even when there is low visibility due to bad weather.

In fact, the “instrument panel inside the cabin helps the loco-pilot know about the signal in advance without visual sighting, and the permissible speeds to be maintained,” as per The Hindu.

If a red signal is jumped, resulting in two trains coming together on the same line, Kavach automatically applies the brakes.

In March 2022, Vaishnaw’s video had surfaced explaining how the technology works.

Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw @AshwiniVaishnaw
Hon'ble Railway Minister briefs during live testing of #kavach automatic train protection technology in Lingampalli - Vikarabad section, South Central Railway #NationalSafetyDay @RailMinIndia @drmsecunderabad pic.twitter.com/jtW5EXECm3

— South Central Railway (@SCRailwayIndia) March 4, 2022

Where has the Kavach system been deployed?

About 1,500 km of tracks in India have been equipped with Kavach technology. The Indian Railways system is more than one lakh kilometres long.

In February, Vaishnaw said in a Rajya Sabha session that Kavach has been deployed on 1,465 route kilometers and 139 locomotives on the South Central Railway network. He also said that tenders have been granted for implementing Kavach on the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah corridors, spanning about 3,000 route kilometers, reported Financial Express.

The Kavach system was not available on the tracks in West Bengal where the two trains collided on Monday.

“The Railways plans to deploy the safety system on the Delhi-Guwahati route under its goal to cover over 6,000 km of tracks by next year. Bengal falls within the 3,000 km of tracks set to be protected by Kavach this year. The system will be applied to the Delhi-Howrah route,” Jaya Varma Sinha, Chairman of the Railway Board, told NDTV.

Speaking to the news channel, former Executive Director of Railway Board Prempal Sharma said, “If Kavach was deployed, something like this accident could likely be avoided. However, it’s a costly system to operate”.

The Indian Railways had planned to instal Kavach across 2,000 rail route networks in 2022-23 and over 4,000-5,000 rail route networks every subsequent year.

Business Standard reported last November that Railways was seeking to upgrade its Kavach system to 4G/5G (LTE-based) and accelerate its adoption.

As per a recent Mint report, Railways has decided to issue a Rs 5,000 crore tender in the coming months to expedite the implementation of the Kavach technology across 10,000 km of its busy networks. “With new tenders, the plan is to add 7,000-8,000 of railway network under Kavach every year so that entire railway network of about 70,000 km gets this system in less than a decade,” a person tracking the adoption of new Kavach system told the financial newspaper.

With inputs from agencies