Odisha Train Accident: What Is ‘Kavach’

Hours after 238 passengers were killed in a massive triple train collision in Odisha, the Railway Ministry confirmeds that there was no 'Kavach' system on the route.

While a high-level probe has been launched, Railway Minister, Ashwani Vaishnav said that the Tyson would be ascertained only after the inquiry report is out.

A political blame-game is on following the tragedy and Opposition parties have questioned the safety of the Railways.

What is 'Kavach'

The 'Kavach' system would have saved the people as it alerts when a loco-pilot jumps a signal and then takes control of the brakes bringing the train to a halt automatically when it notices another train on the same line.

Railway spokesperson Amitabh Sharma said that the 'Kavach' was not available on the same line.

'Kavach' was introduced in 2022 as part of the 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' initiative. A total of 2,000 km of railway network was planned to be brought under this technology.

"In 2011-12, Indian Railways under then Railways Minister @MamataOfficial developed the "Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS)" system. Modi Govt, after coming to power, typically renamed this to #Kavach purely to take credit. There was ZERO PROGRESS on deploying this crucial rail safety technology until 2019 when 3 companies were approved for manufacturing & installing KAVACH on railways," the Trinamool Congress' Saket Gokhale said in a tweet.