Railways testing 'Raksha Kavach'

Device to ward off mishaps

Called ‘raksha kavach’, the device is undergoing its final trial on the Chennai-Arnacunam 32-km track in Southern Railway from last Saturday, and it will be completed in the last week of January, 2011.

The trial is being conducted to examine the efficacy of the device on multiple and electrified tracks.

It has shown zero error on non-electrified and single track systems.

Anti-collision device

The ‘raksha kavach’ can detect and prevent head-on, rear-end and side collisions.
It can detect and stop approaching trains. The device not only warns the drivers of approaching trains but sends messages to guards and station masters.

The ACD is capable of averting accidents at manned and unmanned level crossings, as it warns road users while passing through a level crossing.

In a ‘raksha kavach’ network, the devices are installed on locomotives, guard-vans, track-side, station and loco-sheds.

The entire network is electronically controlled and works on distributed control systems.
The ACD is independent of any signaling system and does not interfere with normal working of train operations.

On board computers use data of Global Positioning System (GPS).

All ACDs within the networked ‘raksha kavach’ communicate through radio communication when they are within a radial range of at least 300 metres.

The Train Collision Prevention System (TCPS) is a flagship product of the Konkan Railway and has already been installed in North Eastern Frontier Railway and Konkan Railway on 2700 kilometres of Indian Railway network.

More than 2,000 systems have been deployed on the track.

“But without installing ACDs on the entire network, we cannot have complete immunity from collisions because these systems can work only in a situation where both the trains have the facility,” admits Project Director of ‘raksha kavach’, Ajay Bhatt.

“ After the final trial of the device, the Railway ministry would go for its nationwide installation,” Bhatt says. The Konkan Railway is optimistic of a good export market for the anti-collision device, as foreign railway networks like the South African Railways have shown interest in the ACD systems.