Coromandel Express accident
A horrific train accident took place near Balasore in Odisha at around 7 pm on Friday. Such a big train accident has happened after the year 2016-17. Rail accidents had come to a halt for the last about 7 years, but this accident has raised questions on the safety cover scheme of the railways. Shalimar-chennai coromandal express (12841) collided with goods train, After which many coaches of the train got derailed. According to the information, the engine of the express climbed over the wagon of the goods train. In which about 18 coaches got derailed.
Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force team was immediately dispatched to Balasore by the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) of Odisha after the accident. On the instructions of the Odisha government, additional fire brigade, doctors and ambulances were sent to the spot from the surrounding districts. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee spoke to Odisha Chief Minister and offered help.
Two day meeting on security technology
On June 1, at the Manekshaw Center in New Delhi, the Ministry of Railways organized a two-day meditation camp on safety and technology of railways, in which all senior officials of the Railway Board including Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav participated.
Railway Minister emphasized on rail safety and adoption of new technologies. He urged the officials to consider increasing the train speed to 160 kmph for 30,000 RKM. He said that they are working on the way to meet the needs of 1100 crore passengers annually and the technique of handling congestion.
‘Kavach’ to prevent collision of trains
In response to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav had said that Indian Railways’ anti-accident system ‘Kavach’ is being implemented across the country in a phased manner. Under the plan of RDSO i.e. Research Design and Standards Organisation, 1,455 route kilometers have already been covered on South Central Railway. This organization is running fast across the country.
In fact, to avoid accidents on the railway routes in the country, the Railway Board had approved Kavach technology along 34,000 km of rail routes. It aims to install Kavach technology on the country’s busiest train lines by March 2024. The unique feature of Kavach is that using it, trains do not collide face to face or from behind. The armor automatically takes the train backwards in such situations.
Expenditure so far on ‘Kavach’ technology
Rs 133 crore was released in the year 2021-22 to set up Kavach technology. And in the year 2022-2023, a separate budget of 272.30 crores was kept for the establishment of Kavach.
Train Protection and Warning System
Apart from this, according to the Ministry of Railways, Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS) is an important system to prevent accidents. In this, every signal will be visible on the screen fitted in the cab of the railway engine. Pilots will be able to see on their screen how fast the train is moving. Due to dense fog, rain or other reasons, the speed of trains will be slow in bad weather.
Also read: Coromandel Express accident: How to contact loved ones, ministry issued helpline number
