Safety Measures To Prevent Train Accidents: Supreme Court Seeks Details From Centre (Photo by Anirudh on Unsplash)
The Supreme Court on Tuesday, January 2, asked the central government regarding the safety measures that have been taken or proposed to be implemented to prevent train accidents in India. The Supreme Court has also granted four weeks of time for the Centre to submit its report. This development comes months after about 293 people were killed in a three-train crash in Odisha”s Balasore.
A Supreme Court bench, comprising Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan, was hearing a petition addressing the issue of safety measures to prevent train accidents. The apex court also asked the petitioner, Vishal Tiwari, to hand over a copy of his plea to the Attorney General”s office. The Supreme Court also asked the Attorney General to update the court on measures, including the implementation status of the “Kavach” scheme.
The top court also asked about the potential financial implications of introducing “Kavach” nationwide. The matter has been posted for hearing after four weeks. “Everything has co-relation with financial aspect because ultimately the burden will be passed on to the passengers,” the bench observed, as quoted by the Economic Times. Kavach, an indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system, was unveiled by the Ministry of Railways in March 2022. This system was developed to bring a train to a halt automatically when it notices another train on the same line within a prescribed distance. In November, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that 1,659 km have been covered so far by KAVACH. The minister also said that an additional 500 km will be covered by March 2024.
On June 2, 2023, India witnessed a devastating triple train crash in Odisha’s Balasore. The trains involved in this tragic incident were the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, and a goods train. The Ministry of Railways later said that a signaling error was behind this crash.
