Railway Board Chairperson and CEO Jaya Verma Sinha along with senior officials of North Central and Northern Railways on Tuesday inspected the ‘Railway Kavach’ trial in Vande Bharat train between Palwal and Vridavan.
Railway Board Chairperson and CEO Jaya Verma Sinha along with senior officials of North Central and Northern Railways on Tuesday inspected the ‘Railway Kavach’ trial in Vande Bharat train between Palwal and Vrindavan. Sinha gained first-hand experience of the armor’s functioning while traveling in the eight-coach Vande Bharat train running at a speed of 160 kilometers per hour.
Armor system trial conducted
Prashasti Srivastava, Public Relations Officer of Agra Railway Division, said, “The test conducted under the supervision of Deputy Chief Signal and Telecommunication Engineer Kush Gupta was successful as the train stopped automatically at the red signal with the help of ‘Kavach’.”
He said, “The train followed all speed restrictions with the help of ‘Kavach’ without any intervention from the loco pilot. For example, the train had to slow down by 30 km to enter the loop line near Chhata station on the Palwal-Vridavan railway route. It had to maintain the speed per hour, which it did very accurately.”
The train applied brakes on its own
Officials who participated in the trials said Sinha was extremely impressed by the successful functioning of ‘Kavach’, which efficiently followed all the parameters. Sinha boarded Vande Bharat from Palwal station at 9.15 am and was accompanied by General Manager of North Central Railway, General Manager of Northern Railway, Principal Chief Signal and Telecommunication Engineer of National Capital Region, Principal Executive Director of Railway Board and Divisional Railway Manager of Agra. Other senior railway officials were present.
A railway official said, “The train reached Sholaka station at 9:38 am and it was to stop at the red signal before entering the next station Hodal. While running at a speed of 160 kmph, the armor system detected the red signal and “Applied brakes automatically at a distance of approximately 1,300 metres.”
He told that the train stopped just nine meters before the signal and everyone including the Chairman expressed satisfaction. According to officials, the three-part 125-km stretch between Delhi and Agra is the only part of the entire rail network where trains can run at a maximum speed of 160 km per hour. Trains run at a maximum speed of 130 km per hour on all other sections in India.
