India now has 25,202 public charging stations for EVs: Minister
As many as 25,202 public charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) have been installed in the country to date, the government said on Friday.
Kavach, an indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system, has so far been deployed on 1465 Route km and 139 locomotives, the government informed Parliament on Friday.
“Presently, Kavach tenders have been awarded for Delhi–Mumbai and Delhi–Howrah corridors (approximately 3000 Route km) and work is in progress on these routes,” Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
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Indian Railways has also taken up preparatory works including survey, Detailed Project Report (DPR) and preparation of detailed estimate on another 6000 RKm.
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Presently there are three Indian OEMs who are approved for Kavach. Efforts are being made to develop more OEMs to enhance the capacity and scale up the implementation of Kavach.
“Kavach has so far been deployed on 1465 Route km and 139 locomotives (including Electric Multiple Unit rakes) on South Central Railway on following sections: Lingamapalli – Vikarabad – Wadi and Vikarabad – Bidar section (265 Rkm), Manmad-Mudkhed-Dhone-Guntkal section (959Rkm) and Bidar-Parbhani section (241Rkm),” Vaishnaw said.
Kavach is a highly technology intensive system, which requires safety certification of the highest order. Kavach aids the loco pilot in train running within specified speed limits by automatic application of brakes in case Loco Pilot fails to do so and also help the train safely run during inclement weather.
The first field trials on the passenger trains were started in February 2016. Based on the experience so gained and Independent Safety Assessment of the system by a 3rd party (Independent Safety Assessor: ISA) three firms were approved in 2018-19, for supply of Kavach. Subsequently Kavach was adopted as a National ATP system in July 2020.
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