Ashwini Vaishnaw inspects trial run of ‘Kavach’ in Rajasthan

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw inspected the trail run of automatic train protection system (ATPS) “Kavach” between Sowai Madhopur and Nagda Kota stations in Rajasthan on Tuesday. He travelled in a loco with officials to test “Kavach”.

One of the tests pertained to loop line setting. When the train changed track to the loop line, “Kavach” automatically brought down its speed to 30 km/h from 130 km/h. If the train shifted to the loop line moves at 30 km/h speed, the impact would be minimal in case of a collision.

During the tests, the Kavach automatically applied brakes and brought the train travelling at a speed of 130 km/h to a halt at the designated place. It also blew whistle on its own while passing through a level crossing without any manual intervention from the loco pilot.

In another test, the driver did not apply brakes after observing a red signal. The Kavach system applied brakes on its own and brought the train to a halt before a red signal.

“The latest version, Kavach 4.0, was finalised on July 16, 2024, and its first installation has been completed from Sawai Madhopur to Nagda Kota,” Vaishnaw told reporters after the tests.

Kavach has been developed by Research Design and Standards Organisation of the Indian Railways in collaboration with Indian industry. Its main function is to activate the braking system automatically if the driver fails to control the train.

Kavach has been certified for highest level of safety integrity level - SIL4 by Independent Safety Assessor and reduces the probability of train collisions in block sections and on running lines at stations through its non-SIL features.