Â
Since the first field tests on the passenger trains began in February 2016, Indian Railways' autonomous train collision avoidance system Kavach has only been implemented on 1,465 Route km (Rkm), according to written testimony provided by railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
By automatically applying the brakes in the event that the loco pilot fails to do so, Kavach assists the loco pilot in keeping the train moving within the designated speed limits and aids in the safe operation of the railway in bad weather.
"Kavach is an Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system that was created locally. Kavach is a highly technological system that needs the greatest level of safety certification, according to Vaishnaw's written response.
According to the announcement, Kavach has so far been used on 121 locomotives (including Electric Multiple Unit rakes) and 1,465 kilometers of track on the South Central Railway in the states of Telangana (684 kilometers), Andhra Pradesh (66 kilometers), Karnataka (117 kilometers), and Maharashtra (598 kilometers).
A route kilometer is the distance between two points on a railroad, regardless of how many lines—single, double, etc.—connect them.
After a devastating triple train collision in the Balasore area of Odisha that left over 235 people dead, the Kavach system came under fire. Railways, however, later verified that there was no "Kavach" system on the line.
In February 2016, the first passenger train field tests began. Three firms were authorized to supply Kavach in 2018–19 based on the experience thus far and the Independent Safety Assessment of the system by a third party (Independent Safety Assessor: ISA).
In July 2020, Kavach was subsequently approved as a National ATP system.
The statement added that tenders for the technology implementation have been awarded for the Delhi - Mumbai & Delhi - Howrah corridors (approximately 3000 Route km) and work is in progress on these routes in West Bengal (229Rkm), Jharkhand (193Rkm), Bihar (227Rkm), Uttar Pradesh (943Rkm), Delhi (30Rkm), Haryana (81Rkm), Rajasthan (425Rkm), Madhya Pradesh (216Rkm), Gujarat (526Rkm), Maharashtra (84Rkm).
While the cost to provide Kavach equipment on the loco is roughly 70 lakh/loco, the cost to provide Kavach equipment on the trackside, including station equipment, is approximately 50 lakh/Km. The financial allotment for Kavach in the years 2023–2024 is 710.12 Crores, and the total amount spent so far on Kavach implementation is 351.91 Crores.
