00:00Shravani, do you know what Kavach is?
00:05You mean the Kavach and Kundal that Dandeep Karn used to have in the great battle of Mahabharat?
00:10No, not that, but something similar.
00:13Okay, does this Kavach also protect just like Karnaz did?
00:16Yes, just make our trains safe.
00:19It is India's first ever self-made anti-pollution device.
00:23This is India's answer to the world.
00:26Saving and protecting millions of daily train passengers' lives.
00:30It is the safety system revolutionizing the entire rail running system in India.
00:35Come with me to explore this cutting edge technology called Kavach
00:40that ensures our safety as we travel in trains through the length and breadth of this vast country called Bharat.
00:57So this is where our journey begins.
00:59I have reached Delhi Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station
01:02and I am going to take you to an exciting journey to Sikandarabad in Telangana.
01:07But let me tell you, this journey is not going to be just about beautiful scenery and delicious food.
01:14But we will also delve into the railway safety system and the incredible technology known as Kavach.
01:22So, without wasting any more time, let's get going before our train leaves. Come.
01:31Indian Railways is the lifeline of our nation.
01:34With 7,335 stations and an impressive track length of 1,26,000 km,
01:44can you believe 23 million passengers travel daily?
01:49Kavach is a massive operation including countless men and the machines.
01:54But safety has always been a concern and it took us a very long time to actually embrace the new technologies.
02:05Let's have a conversation with our co-passengers who are boarded on this train right now
02:09about their experience of travelling in the Indian Railways
02:13and also if they are aware about the anti-pollution protection system Kavach.
02:17Kavach is much better than before.
02:20Earlier, there used to be a lot of thefts and other crimes
02:25whether on the platform or inside the train.
02:28There was no security issue. People didn't pay attention to this.
02:32Because they didn't care.
02:34But now, in today's way, we like these things a lot.
02:40Earlier, there was not so much safety and security and cleanliness.
02:47Now, there are so many helpline numbers.
02:49If you need a number for safety, they are provided.
02:54If you need a number for cleanliness, they are also provided.
02:57Earlier, there was not so much, but now it is enough.
02:59It is much better than before.
03:02Earlier, there were no cleaners.
03:05Now, there are a lot of facilities.
03:10In the past, we have seen some tragic train accidents
03:13like the devastating Kirozabad accident in the year 1995
03:18claiming 358 lives
03:21underscoring the importance and the urgence of enhanced safety measures.
03:30Fast forward to today.
03:31In the last decade, Indian Railways have made remarkable strides
03:35reducing the accidents number from 473 in the year 2000 and 2001
03:42to just 40 in the year 2023 and 2024
03:46thanks to initiative like 1 lakh crore
03:49Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh.
03:54Now, let's talk about Kavach.
03:56It is an automatic train protection system
03:58designed as a safety shield for its passenger on board.
04:02Developed by the Indian companies,
04:04it monitors the train's speed
04:06and also alerts the operator to potential danger.
04:10Pretty cool, isn't it?
04:16Now, let's come and ask our co-passengers
04:18if they are aware about this advanced technology known as Kavach or not.
04:23Sir, are you aware about this new technology called Kavach?
04:27If so, please tell us something about it.
04:29Yes, madam. I heard about Kavach.
04:31Our Railway Minister has announced Kavach technology, the latest one.
04:38It is an anti-collision train protection system.
04:42It will be of great use because it will save so many lives.
04:46Earlier, so many lives were lost.
04:48School buses have been met with accidents at unmanned gates
04:52and two trains collided and a lot of casualties are there.
04:56Now, all those things will be averted.
04:58I am glad that this will surely reduce the accidents
05:03and we will have a safe journey.
05:05The journey of Kavach began in year 2016 with rigorous trials.
05:10By 2019, it achieved the highest global safety standard, SIL-4 certification.
05:17In 2020, it was officially approved as National ATP system.
05:29Finally, I have arrived at Sikandarabad
05:32where I will get to see what Kavach really is
05:35and how is it saving the lives of so many people every day.
05:38Here, in just few hours, I will sit right next to the local pilot
05:42and understand the functioning of Kavach, an experience like never before.
05:53It's day 2 today and the moment has finally come
05:56to have a first-hand experience of Kavach.
06:00In a very short period of time, we will be inside the locomotive
06:03along with the local pilot and see the functioning of Kavach.
06:10To address the issue of train derailment and collision,
06:14Indian Railways introduced Kavach, Automatic Train Protection System,
06:20developed by the Research, Design and Standards Organization, in short RDSO,
06:26in collaboration with three Indian companies.
06:29To expedite the same, the government also roped in Japanese vendors
06:35to set up bases in India and provide scalability.
06:39The responsibility is immense as the slightest mistake can have devastating consequences,
06:46potentially costing thousands of lives.
06:49Hence, the railways is going the extra mile to ensure perfect execution of the same.
06:56The Kavach has been designed and developed
06:59under the best international signalling and safety specifications.
07:04It is important that indigenous technology is developed,
07:09deployed and promulgated by indigenous vendors.
07:12They have a very important role to play.
07:14The maintenance of the specification, maintenance of high standards of production
07:19and the scalability as per the speed of the deployment is a prime objective
07:24and a task which is carried out by the vendors.
07:27Indian Railways plans to implement Kavach safety system across 44,000 km,
07:34aiming to eliminate the fatalities caused by human error.
07:38It is a massive undertaking.
07:40It requires both technical advancement and infrastructural upgrade.
07:44But there are challenges.
07:46Indian Railway faces diverse range of terrain and weather conditions,
07:51making deployment of Kavach crucial.
07:54It is just like refuelling jet mid-air.
07:59This ambitious target set by the current government
08:02surpasses the entire passenger network of the United States,
08:06which spans over 35,000 km.
08:09This innovative safety system exemplifies Indian ingenuity and commitment to railway safety.
08:16This provides a layer of safety in train operations,
08:20particularly eliminating the human errors on the part of our drivers.
08:24While choosing the technology, while choosing the various equipments,
08:29a lot of care has been taken,
08:32keeping in mind the different type of environmental conditions prevailing over the entire Indian Railways.
08:38Apart from this, this has been designed to Senelec,
08:43that is European standards of safety integrity level 4,
08:47that is the highest level of safety integrity.
08:50So this meets all our safety requirements as well as our environmental requirements.
08:54It's finally the time to board our locomotive and experience the functioning of Kavach.
09:00We will also be talking to our loco-pilot
09:02and understand the basics of how the Kavach works
09:05and save lives of so many people.
09:08Let's go!
09:10Kavach, Kavach, Kavach
09:16So we have with us Mr. Mohan here,
09:19who is the Kavach engineer,
09:21who is going to tell us all about how Kavach works while our journey.
09:25And right now he is going to explain how the whole system is going to start.
09:29So please tell us.
09:31Actually, this particular Kavach or technically called as Tika,
09:35is an add-on product of any loco,
09:37which actually is a priority of the safe side of the locomotive.
09:40So it actually monitors the whole locomotive based on the information received from the station side.
09:45This is a speedometer.
09:47It actually shows how much speed the loco has to travel at the time of journey.
09:51At the same time, it takes the input from the station.
09:53Based on that input only, the loco needs to go at a regular speed.
09:57If it avoids more than that speed, automatically it is going to apply brakes.
10:01If a loco-pilot misses out onto a signal,
10:03then how will Kavach help the locomotive to stop automatically?
10:08So actually, Kavach is a prevention which controls the speed actually.
10:13So it brings back the loco.
10:15For example, loco is moving at maximum speed,
10:17while loco-pilot might not be able to control the speed.
10:19It automatically applies a brake and brings to minimum speed till the span.
10:24Then loco-pilot helps loco-pilot to apply the brake and makes it zero.
10:27If in case loco-pilot by mistake overrides a signal also,
10:32he has a mode here, trip mode.
10:34He can select that mode and he can move in a different speed.
10:36So we are going to see all these things what he has just explained live.
10:40And let's start with our journey.
10:42And this is going to be one of kind of an experience for all of us.
10:46Let's go.
10:52So as you can see here, the loco-pilot has crossed the limit here.
10:55It gives warning here.
10:57If you acknowledge, it's okay.
11:00More than 5 km if you go for 90 km.
11:03So when it was going beyond the given numbers,
11:06so the alarm went on.
11:09Now you manually have acknowledged that it is all under control.
11:15If we do not acknowledge, if the loco-pilot did not acknowledge,
11:19then the machine is going to take over.
11:21It will take over and it will be going to apply brakes automatically.
11:25This is the applying brake here.
11:27Because we are in between.
11:28Exceeding the given numbers.
11:40Oh my god, this was something really amazing.
11:42We just saw the alarm went on and the loco-pilot did not apply the brake.
11:47But the train actually came at halt after crossing the red signal.
11:51And we are all safe actually in the train.
11:54It is amazing.
11:58The progress has been nothing short of extraordinary.
12:01Optical fibre cable laying of 4055 km of the proposed 6000 km.
12:08With 356 towers already installed.
12:12Additionally, 273 station coverage installations have been completed.
12:18Trackside equipment have been deployed across 1331 km.
12:24And 301 locomotives are already equipped.
12:28It is true that Indian railway approach towards infrastructure and safety
12:33has undergone a significant transformation in the last decade.
12:37Indeed, the number of accidents have dropped in last few years.
12:41But there is still a lot of work to be done to erase this number entirely.
12:46The gross budgetary support for railways in financial year 2024-2025
12:52stands at Rs 2,52,200 crore.
12:57Reflecting the government's emphasis on railway safety and infrastructure.
13:02This investment has led to record achievements with Indian railways
13:07reaching 1588 metric tonne in freight loading during financial year 2023-24.
13:16Up from 1,095 metric tonne in 2014-15.
13:22With a target of 3,000 metric tonne by the year 2030.
13:27Even Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Modi
13:33and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the substantial railway budget allocation.
13:39With a World Economic Forum rating of 4.4 in Railroad Infrastructure Quality,
13:45India has surpassed many countries like UK, Belgium, Italy and Sweden.
13:50Despite handling the largest passenger load globally.
13:54Despite many hurdles and numerous challenges in modernizing Indian railways.
14:00Initiatives like Kavach are leading the way in ensuring passenger safety and preventing accidents.
14:07India is now on track to deploy the world's largest automatic train protection system
14:14positioning Indian railways as a global leader in safety, innovation and efficiency.
14:21As I wrap up my journey, it is very clear that Indian railways is setting up new standards
14:27in terms of safety and passenger experience and Kavach is a testament to that commitment.
14:34Thank you so much for joining us in our journey
14:37as we move forward towards more safer and secure rail network in India.
14:42I'm your host Ria, signing off.
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