SC lauds railways on ‘Kavach’ system to curb accidents

The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari, raising concern over the passenger safety and efficacy of the anti-collision system

The Supreme Court has appreciated the steps taken by the Centre and Indian Railways to prevent train accidents, including the development of automatic train protection system ‘Kavach’ to avoid collisions, as it disposed of a petition that raised several issues related to passenger safety in the wake of a triple-train accident in Odisha last June that claimed 293 lives.

On June 2 last year, three trains were involved in one of the worst railway tragedies in the country in the last three decades that left at least 293 dead and nearly 1,100 injured in Balasore (HT)

“We appreciate the steps taken by the Railways. That being so, we are satisfied that the initiation of these proceedings in public interest has achieved the purpose and the issues have been adequately addressed by the Union of India and the Railways,” a bench headed by justice Surya Kant said on April 15.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari, raising concern over the passenger safety and efficacy of the anti-collision system.

On June 2 last year, three trains — Kolkata-Chennai Coromandel Express, Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and a goods train — were involved in one of the worst railway tragedies in the country in the last three decades that left at least 293 dead and nearly 1,100 injured in Balasore. The Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) in its report prepared a month after the incident attributed the accident to lapses in signalling and telecom department.

The petition, filed soon after the Balasore accident, sought directions to the Centre and the Railways to enforce or further strengthen measures to prevent train accidents, claiming the “government must be accountable on these issues as it concerns the right to life of citizens under Article 21 of the Constitution”.

On January 2, the top court had sought to know about the protective measures, steps implemented so far or proposed to be taken by the Centre, including the ‘Kavach’ system. It had asked the petitioner to hand over a copy of the plea to the office of the attorney general.

On Monday, Attorney General R Venkataramani, on behalf of the Railways, produced a status report to the court highlighting the steps taken to avoid any future mishaps involving trains.

“We find that multiple steps towards installation of safety systems, improving quality of tracks, training and sensitisation of staff, reforms in maintenance practices and development of Kavach System, which is a highly technology intensive system, have been initiated,” the bench, also comprising justice KV Viswanathan said.

Kavach, an indigenous system developed in March 2022, seeks to control the speed of the train by automatic application of brakes in case the loco pilot ignores the signal to stop and over-speeds.

Taking note of the status report filed by attorney general, the bench said: “We have no reason to doubt that the Union of India/Indian Railways will continue to take the desired steps for modernisation of the Indian Railways and for implementation of the Kavach system in a manner as may be found appropriate by the experts.”