RAIL SAFETY ON A SLOW TRACK

DESPITE FREQUENT TRAGEDIES ON INDIA’S VAST RAIL NETWORK, INORDINATE DELAYS AND TECHNICAL CHALLENGES CONTINUE TO MAR THE ADOPTION OF KAVACH, INDIA’S HOMEGROWN TRAIN PROTECTION SYSTEM

- Avishek G. Dastidar

ON THE MORNING OF JUNE 17, A CONTAINER GOODS TRAIN RAMMED INTO THE STATIONARY Kanchenjunga Express in West Bengal's Darjeeling district, resulting in the deaths of the goods train driver and nine passengers. Initial investigations reveal that the automatic signalling system of the stretch was undergoing maintenance, necessitating cautious travel at 10-15 kmph and mandatory stops at every red signal. The Kanchenjunga Express was waiting at a red signal when it was struck from behind.

Railways authorities have attributed the crash to "human error", blaming 46-year-old Anil Kumar, the deceased goods train driver, for failing to follow the safety protocols. This tragic incident once again underscores the critical need for the widespread installation of an automatic train protection (ATP) system-crucial for averting such collisions by automatically applying brakes when trains approach signals or each other at high speeds. Each incident has seen railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw praise Kavach, the homegrown ATP solution, and urge his team to accelerate its deployment. Yet, progress remains painfully sluggish.

Over 300 people have been killed in train accidents in India since July 2022, when Vaishnaw told the Lok Sabha that Kavach had been installed on 1,140 km of routes in the Secunderabad-based South Central Railway and the plan was to roll it out on 35,000-plus km of the network across India. "The way we took up electrification of the rail network, in mission mode, we will do that with the rollout of Kavach as well," he said. However, as of July, Kavach stands implemented only on 1,465 km of the total route length of 68,000 km-a progress of just over 300 km in two years and still limited to the South Central Railway. Similarly, from 90 engines, Kavach is present in 144 engines now-less than 1 per cent of the total 15,200 engines.