Odisha train accident: Congress slams Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw over lack of 'Kavach' system

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had in December last year said that ‘Kavach’ was being implemented in a phased manner with 1,455 route kms on South Central Railway already covered.

Bhubaneswar: As death toll in the horrific Balasore train accident in Odisha tops 280, Congress has slammed Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw over the lack of safety system 'Kavach' proposed by the minister over five months ago. “Where was 'Kavach' when a train derailed and came to another railway track?? Around 300 killed, around 1000 injured. Will someone be responsible for these painful deaths?,” President Indian Youth Congress, Srinivas BV wrote in a tweet while sharing Union Railway's past video demonstration of the 'Kavach' safety system.

• जब एक Train Derail होकर दूसरे Railway Track पर आ गयी थी, तब 'Kavach' कहाँ था??
  
  300 के आसपास मौतें, करीब 1000 लोग घायल। इन दर्दनाक मौतों के लिए कोई तो जिम्मेदार होगा? pic.twitter.com/Ys3RGZFRVS

  — Srinivas BV (@srinivasiyc) June 3, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  जब एक Train Derail होकर दूसरे Railway Track पर आ गयी थी, तब 'Kavach' कहाँ था??
  
  300 के आसपास मौतें, करीब 1000 लोग घायल। इन दर्दनाक मौतों के लिए कोई तो जिम्मेदार होगा? pic.twitter.com/Ys3RGZFRVS

  — Srinivas BV (@srinivasiyc) June 3, 2023

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  जब एक Train Derail होकर दूसरे Railway Track पर आ गयी थी, तब 'Kavach' कहाँ था??
  
  300 के आसपास मौतें, करीब 1000 लोग घायल। इन दर्दनाक मौतों के लिए कोई तो जिम्मेदार होगा? pic.twitter.com/Ys3RGZFRVS

  — Srinivas BV (@srinivasiyc) June 3, 2023

“Where is Kavach Mr Ashwini Vaishnaw? Why you guys always fool people of India,” Congress leader Vivek Singh tweeted. In the demonstration, Vaishnaw is seen explaining on how the kavach system works. “Two trains must remain at a safe distance. If by chance, the driver somehow does not recognize an approaching gate or red light, the kavach will automatically apply brakes on the train,” Vaishnaw says in the video.

• Where was 'Kavach' when a train derailed and came to another railway track??
  
  Around 300 killed, around 1000 injured. Will someone be responsible for these painful deaths?😥#TrainAccident #Balasore #Odisha pic.twitter.com/7rvFqcSJSI

  — Santosh S Kamble (@SantoshSkamble5) June 3, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  Where was 'Kavach' when a train derailed and came to another railway track??
  
  Around 300 killed, around 1000 injured. Will someone be responsible for these painful deaths?😥#TrainAccident #Balasore #Odisha pic.twitter.com/7rvFqcSJSI

  — Santosh S Kamble (@SantoshSkamble5) June 3, 2023

  ">

  Where was 'Kavach' when a train derailed and came to another railway track??
  
  Around 300 killed, around 1000 injured. Will someone be responsible for these painful deaths?😥#TrainAccident #Balasore #Odisha pic.twitter.com/7rvFqcSJSI

  — Santosh S Kamble (@SantoshSkamble5) June 3, 2023

“The system will bring a big change in the safety system of the train. The kavach will realize the vision of the PM to bring change in a common man's life,” he adds. But Railways Spokesperson, Amitabh Sharma on Saturday said that the Kavach system was “not available on this route” while asked over the lack of the proposed safety system.

Union Railway Minister had last year trumpeted the Kavach safety system to be “better than level 2 ETCS (European Train Control System)” which is in vogue in the European countries. “ETCS is very complex system. We decided to develop and design our own system, which has to be simple, which can be replicated and taken to the world. If you compare it (Kavach) with the current European system called ETCS L2, this is better than level 2 and comparable to level 3 used in very few countries,” Vasihnaw had said at a curtain raiser event of the Kavach system.

• Where was 'Kavach' when a train derailed and came to another railway track??
  
  Around 300 killed, around 1000 injured. Will someone be responsible for these painful deaths?😥#TrainAccident #Balasore #Odisha pic.twitter.com/7rvFqcSJSI

  — Santosh S Kamble (@SantoshSkamble5) June 3, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  Where was 'Kavach' when a train derailed and came to another railway track??
  
  Around 300 killed, around 1000 injured. Will someone be responsible for these painful deaths?😥#TrainAccident #Balasore #Odisha pic.twitter.com/7rvFqcSJSI

  — Santosh S Kamble (@SantoshSkamble5) June 3, 2023

  ">

  Where was 'Kavach' when a train derailed and came to another railway track??
  
  Around 300 killed, around 1000 injured. Will someone be responsible for these painful deaths?😥#TrainAccident #Balasore #Odisha pic.twitter.com/7rvFqcSJSI

  — Santosh S Kamble (@SantoshSkamble5) June 3, 2023

“I sat in one of the trains during the test of the system. In another train, there was chairman of railway board. The kavach automatically stops the train 400 metres ahead of the approaching train. I took a risk being an engineer,” he had said. Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had in December last year said that ‘Kavach’ was being implemented in a phased manner with 1,455 route kms on South Central Railway already covered.