Visakhapatnam: Enhancingoperational safety in railways, the first locomotive equipped with ‘Kavach,’ an indigenous Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) was commissioned and flagged off at the electric loco shed here on Tuesday.

Inaugurating the ‘station Kavach’ facility, Divisional Railway Manager of Waltair Lalit Bohra mentioned that with this launch of Kavach, ELS/VSKP has proudly become the first electric loco shed in East Coast Railway to commission the facility.

‘Kavach’ is a state-of-the-art safety technology developed indigenously as part of Indian Railways’ mission to provide zero-accident train operations. The system is designed to prevent collisions by providing real-time signal information directly to the loco pilot’s cab.

It enables seamless exchange of data between station interlocking systems and locomotives over a secure wireless communication network, while RFID tags mounted on tracks ensure precise locomotive positioning.

To attain the task, electric loco shed, Visakhapatnam has been allotted 186 loco sets with Kavach units for commissioning. The shed has also established a dedicated 600-metre Kavach-compatible test track and installed a ‘station Kavach’ system to facilitate rigorous trials.