Consider the following statements about Kavach, the automatic train protection system:

1. It is designed and developed by Research Design and Standard Organisation (RDSO) in collaboration with Railway Technical Research Institute (RTRI), Japan

2. The trials of Kavach were facilitated by the Southern Railway

3. Kavach is a state-of-the-art electronic system with Safety Integrity Level-4 (SIL-4)

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Question

Question

This question was previously asked in

UPSC NDA-II (General Ability) Official Paper-I (Held On: 03 Sept, 2023)

Answer 1

The correct answer is 3 only.

Key Points

Kavach is an automatic train protection (ATP) system indigenously developed by Indian Railways through Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO). Hence statement 1 is incorrect.
Kavach is India’s automatic protection system, which is in development since 2012, under the name Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), which got rechristened Kavach or “armour”.
- It is a set of electronic devices and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) devices installed in locomotives, in the signalling system as well as the tracks.
- The current form of the armor meets the highest level of safety and reliability standard called Safety Integrity Level (SIL)4. Hence statement 3 is correct.
  - SIL comes from two voluntary standards that are used by plant owners/operators to set safety performance requirements for hazardous operations.
  - There are four SIL levels (1-4). Higher SIL levels mean greater process risk and the need for a higher level of safety.
The Kavach trials facilitated by South Central Railway to achieve the corporate objective of safety in train operations across Indian Railways. Hence statement 2 is incorrect.