Supreme Court Seeks Details On Safety Measures To Prevent Train Accidents

Months after about 293 people were killed in a train accident in Odisha, the Supreme Court today asked the Centre about the safety parameters in the Railways, including the automatic train protection system 'Kavach'.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and K V Viswanathan asked the Attorney General to apprise it about the protective measures which are implemented or proposed to be implemented by the Railways in the next hearing after four weeks. 

"Is there any kind of exercise undertaken that how much financial implication will be there on the 'Kavach' system in case it is introduced on a pan-India basis," the bench asked.

The Supreme Court was hearing a petition that seeks specific directions to the government for the enforcement of the 'Railway Accidents Protective' measures to avoid accidents.

The petition has also sought issuance of guidelines for the implementation of the 'kavach' system in Railways with immediate effect.

"The enforcement of safety mechanisms of train protection system is still not done at ground level throughout the country as it has been clearly proven that Kavach, which is an Automatic Train Protection System, was still not applied on this route...", the plea said.

The accident involving three trains - Coromandel Express, Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and a goods train - is one of the worst railway tragedies in the country.