Will make every effort to implement Kavach on entire rail network: Vaishnaw

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Thursday approved the ‘Demands for Grants’ of Rs. 7.89 lakh crore for the railways amid opposition from the INDIA bloc leaders, even as railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw assured the House that the government will make every effort to roll out the automatic train-protection system Kavach in the right earnest.

Replying to a debate on the Demand for Grants, Vaishnaw slammed the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for allegedly not doing enough to ensure the safety of passengers.

“Unfortunately, during the 58 years of Congress rule, the automatic train protection, also called the ATP system, was not implemented on even one km on Indian Railways till 2014… .I acknowledge that many experiments were carried out, but there was no focused approach to take it to fruition,” Vaishnaw said.

The rail minister said the current government in 2019 eliminated unmanned level crossings, which were 9,000. The rail network has been equipped with electronic interlocking at railway stations for better management of train movements, he said, adding that from 2004 to 2014, only 837 stations were equipped with this system, whereas 2,964 railway stations have been equipped with it from 2014-24.

Assuring that the Centre will make every effort to roll out the automatic train-protection system Kavach, he said, “I can assure you that no stone will be left unturned in the roll-out of Kavach. We will work hard day and night and make every effort to install Kavach along every kilometre.” 

Also Read: Ashwini Vaishnaw downplays rail safety concerns, says Congress instilling fear: ‘Those shouting…’

The railways minister, however, did not give a timeline of when Kavach will be used across the whole railway network. He noted that smaller countries with smaller rail systems took over 20 years to fully implement the automatic train safety system.

He said that Kavach 4.0 received certification by the Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) on July 17 this year, and three manufacturers of the system have scaled up their production capabilities. 

“Two new manufacturers are coming onboard… .More than 8,000 engineers and technicians have been trained… .Tenders are in process for implementing Kavach on 9,000 km… .We will start implementing Kavach 4.0 on 10,000 coaches in the next few months,” the rail minister said.

On the issue of track failures, Vaishnaw said that the track renewal in the UPA’s tenure was 32,000 km, but in the ten years of the National Democratic Alliance government, 42,000 lakh km have been renewed. 

Similarly, the UPA government laid 57,000 km of better capacity and high-strength tracks, whereas, in the past 10 years, the government has laid 1,30,000 km of track, he said.

Hinting out at Rahul Gandhi’s meeting with the loco drivers, Vaishnaw said, “Those who were busy making reels with loco pilots... not one air conditioner was installed in running rooms during the UPA rule, and there were no locomotives with air-conditioned cabins.”

Opposition members trooped to the Well of the House, raising slogans ‘Railway Minister go back’, ‘Reel Minister haay, haay’ and ‘Reel Minister isteefa do’ before staging a walkout.

“Ashwini Vaishnaw is not taking his moral responsibility. In the last two months, four goods trains have derailed. In the last 2-3 months, 14 people have died in rail accidents, and around 70 passengers were injured. The Balasore accident killed around 300 passengers. The minister should introspect and understand whether he should remain in the post or resign,” Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said.