Odisha train mishap: Mamata asks why no ‘Kavach’ installed; Vande Bharat creator says it couldn’t have helped in averting collision

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Saturday questioned why the Centre’s ‘Kavach’ system was missing from the route where the collision took place. Banerjee, who was the railway minister twice, reached the accident site in Balasore to take stock of rescue operations.  

She said the horrific train accident was the "biggest of the century" and a proper investigation was needed to get to the truth. She spoke to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and other senior officials who were already present there.

“Coromandel is one of the best express trains. I was the Railway Minister thrice. From what I saw, this is the biggest railway accident of the 21st century. Such cases are handed over to Railway's safety commission and they investigate and give a report...There was no anti-collision device on the train, as far as I know. Had the device been on the train, this would not have happened," Banerjee said.

However, Sudhanshu Mani, the creator of Vande Bharat Express, on Saturday said the Kavach could not have averted Friday's tragic accident.

"Kavach couldn't have stopped this accident. Prima facie this does not look like a case of signalling failure. The root cause looks like the derailment of the first train. The government should investigate why the first train was derailed,” Mani said.  

“The Coromandel Express driver could not have pulled the brakes when he saw the obstruction as the train was running at high speed,” he added.

 However, Mani said there is a need to overhaul railway track infrastructure in India.

Kavach, which was introduced in 2022, is an indigenous Automatic Train Protection (ATP) System that the Railway Ministry developed in collaboration with three Indian vendors by the Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO).

Banerjee, who served as the railway minister in the BJP-led NDA government in 1999 and again in the UPA II government in 2009, said that the anti-collision device could have saved lives.  

National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah also suggested that a probe be carried out to ascertain if an anti-collision device was installed on the route that witnessed Friday's horrific train crash.

A railway spokesperson confirmed that Kavach was not available on the route, further clarifying that they are in the process of installing it across the railway network in India.

At least 280 people were killed and over 900 injured on Friday after three trains collided near Balasore. The horrific accident happened when the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, headed toward Chennai, derailed. It collided with a goods train on the adjacent track. The third train, Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, coming from the opposite direction on the third track, rammed into the derailed coaches.