Railways to bring tenders for 10,000 km of 'Kavach'

18 Jun 2024 CW Team

According to a top railway ministry official, it was stated that Indian Railways had received the patent for Kavach and tenders were in proof for another 10,000 km. The official mentioned that the system involved complexity and had to be customised for every train. For instance, it was noted that a 5000-tonne goods train would require a distance of 1?1.5 km to come to a halt, whereas for a MEMU (mainline electric multiple unit), it would be 300?500 km. Therefore, the official emphasised that the system had to be devised accordingly.

Three Indian OEMs are now authorised for Kavach: Medha, Kernex, and HBL PowerSystems. In an effort to increase capacity and accelerate the adoption of Kavach, efforts are being undertaken to cultivate other OEMs.

In order to hasten the adoption of Kavach, the railroads seek to onboard new OEMs for the next bids. To protect passenger safety, Kavach is going to be deployed along the whole 70,000 route km.

Installing telecom towers, installing trackside equipment, installing equipment at stations, installing equipment in locomotives, and laying optical fibre cable are all part of the system. By automatically applying the brakes when the loco pilot forgets to do so, Kavach assists the loco pilot in trains travelling within designated speed restrictions. It also provides assistance for the train to safely run during inclement weather.

Additional advantages of "Kavach" include the ability to automatically apply brakes when turnouts are approaching, repeat signal elements within the cab?a crucial feature in foggy weather and at greater speeds?and automatically sound the whistle at level crossing gates.

In February 2016, the passenger trains' initial field trials got underway. Three companies were licensed in 2018?19 to provide Kavach, based on the experience obtained thus far and the Independent Safety Assessment of the system by an independent third party (Independent Safety Assessor: ISA). In July 2020, Kavach was subsequently approved as a national ATP system.?

Currently, contracts for Kavach have been granted for the routes Delhi-Howrah (including Lucknow?Kanpur Section) and Delhi-Mumbai (including Ahmedabad?Vadodara Section), which span roughly 3000 route Km and include the Eastern, East Central, North Central, Northern, West Central, and Western railways.? According to a top railway ministry official, it was stated that Indian Railways had received the patent for Kavach and tenders were in proof for another 10,000 km. The official mentioned that the system involved complexity and had to be customised for every train. For instance, it was noted that a 5000-tonne goods train would require a distance of 1?1.5 km to come to a halt, whereas for a MEMU (mainline electric multiple unit), it would be 300?500 km. Therefore, the official emphasised that the system had to be devised accordingly. Three Indian OEMs are now authorised for Kavach: Medha, Kernex, and HBL PowerSystems. In an effort to increase capacity and accelerate the adoption of Kavach, efforts are being undertaken to cultivate other OEMs. In order to hasten the adoption of Kavach, the railroads seek to onboard new OEMs for the next bids. To protect passenger safety, Kavach is going to be deployed along the whole 70,000 route km. Installing telecom towers, installing trackside equipment, installing equipment at stations, installing equipment in locomotives, and laying optical fibre cable are all part of the system. By automatically applying the brakes when the loco pilot forgets to do so, Kavach assists the loco pilot in trains travelling within designated speed restrictions. It also provides assistance for the train to safely run during inclement weather. Additional advantages of Kavach include the ability to automatically apply brakes when turnouts are approaching, repeat signal elements within the cab?a crucial feature in foggy weather and at greater speeds?and automatically sound the whistle at level crossing gates. In February 2016, the passenger trains' initial field trials got underway. Three companies were licensed in 2018?19 to provide Kavach, based on the experience obtained thus far and the Independent Safety Assessment of the system by an independent third party (Independent Safety Assessor: ISA). In July 2020, Kavach was subsequently approved as a national ATP system.?

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