Scaling Up Of Kavach 4.0 Manufacturing & Installation Way Towards Bolstering Safety In Bharat Railway: Salient Features Of Kavach
- Ananya Sharma
- Jun 25, 2024
- 3 min read
Namastay, Everyone!
On 17th of June 2024, Kanchanjunga Express which was standstill headed for Sealdah station in Kolkata was struck by a goods train in Northern Bengal lashing into the end of Kanchanjunga Express accounting for forty-one fatalities and ten deaths.
Post five days of the horrific incident railway minister Ashwini Vaishnav convened a review meeting for administering the advancement of Kavach installation and mandated his team to ramp up Kavach installation .
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But what is Kavach?
Kavach is an autonomous train protection system (ATP) that can prompt automatic application of brakes when emergency strikes such as when the train driver is insufficient to act timely and also in adverse weather.
When does Kavach works?
The autonomous protection system comes into action when the two trains are sharing the same track.
What Are Salient Features Of Kavach?
Here are the salient features of Kavach:
->1.Kavach was developed domestically by Bharat railways by employing Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO).
->2. Developemnt of Kavach started back in 2012 called as Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) & its developemnt concluded in 2022.
-> 3.Kavach has received Safety and Integrity Level-SIL 4 coperations certification for adherence.SIL 4 implies Kavach implies highest level of safety ensuring paramount of reliability of safety features.
->4. Kavach has been hailed as the most affordable ATP system globally,priced at about 50 lakh i.e. 5 MN Rupees /Kilometere to operate unlike 2 Cr i.e. 20 MN Rupees globally.
Now let us understand SIL and SIL4.
What is SIL and SIL 4 ?
SIL or Safety Integration Level can be understood as quantification of the safety features i.e. is a way to measure how well the safety features work. SIL provides us the amount of risk reduced with four levels.SIL 1 referes to lowest integrity and SIL 4 implies pinnacle of safety features certification.
According to an informed official regarding development of Kavach ststed that the railway monister administered the advancement of version 4.0 of Kavach.He further stated that , following the development of Kavach 4.0 along with its certification our Bharat Railways will ramp up its installation procedure.Besides he further spoke that additional manufactures are engineering Kavach and is in discrete level of its advancement.He further added ,our country railway will achieve Kavach installation by March' 2025.Intrestingly it is planned that tenders for additional 6000 kms will be issued by December.
By far, out of the railway network spanning over 68,000 Kms ,Kavach has been installed on 1500 km.
The national transporter commenced installing the system in 2016.
According to the officials , our Bharat Railway is seeking additional manufacturers for swift6 installation of the system.
A second informed official stated that three authorized manufacturers are in their final phases of testing Kavach 4.0.He further added that during the review meeting ,Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav mandated planned approach for Kavach installation in mission mode on all locations once Kavach 4.0 is ready.
The officials also stated that current version of Kavach 3.2 will be enhanced to Kavach 4.0.
Globally ,principal railway infrastructures transitioned to automatic train protection system in 1980's.However , Bharat railway initiated this move to incorporate automatic train protection in 2016.It underwent testing to attain SIL 4 , the pinnacle of safety certification in 2019.
In 2020, the system was accredited as a national protection system .Even during the pandemic ,testing carried on ,leading to the certification and deployment of Kavach version 3.2 in 2021.
Conclusively, we can say that our Bharat railways is on its way on expediting manufacturing and installation of Kavach 4.0 post its testing to ensure automatic brake applications in case of any emergency for securing safety & lives of people.
Thank You.
References:
PHYSICAL COPY OF HINDUSTAN TIMES DATED 24 TH JUNE 2024 UNDER PAGE NO-07 WITH THE ARTICLE NAMED " VAISHNAV ASKS RAIL STAFF TO SPEED UP KAVACH INSTALLATION"
The blog effectively highlights the importance and advancements of Bharat Railways' Kavach system, emphasizing its role in enhancing safety through automatic train protection. It provides detailed insights and updates on its development and deployment.
A comprehensive blog post that delves into the intricacies of automatic protection system-KAVACH 4.0 which is to be incorporated by Bharat Railway