CNN Central News & Network–ITDC India Epress/ITDC News Bhopal: While providing information about the implementation of Kavach in the railways in the Lok Sabha, Honorable Minister of Railways, Communications, Electronics, and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw explained that Kavach is an indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system. Kavach is a highly technology-intensive system that requires the highest order of safety certification. It assists the loco pilot by automatically applying brakes if the pilot fails to do so, ensuring the train operates within the specified speed limit and helping the train run safely during adverse weather conditions.
The implementation of Kavach involves executing several activities, such as installing station Kavach at each station, installing RFID tags along the entire track length, setting up telecom towers throughout the section, laying optical fiber cables alongside the track, and providing loco Kavach on every locomotive running on Indian Railways.
The implementation of Kavach began after 2014. Before 2014, the progress of Kavach on Indian Railways was zero. As of now, Kavach has been deployed on 1,465 route kilometers and on 144 locomotives on the South Central Railway. Currently, the progress of the main items related to Kavach on the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah corridors (approximately 3,000 route kilometers) is as follows:
Laying of optical fiber cables: 4,275 km
Installation of telecom towers: 364 units
Provision of equipment at stations: 285 units
Provision of equipment on locomotives: 319 locomotives
Installation of trackside equipment: 1,384 route kilometers
Indian Railways has also prepared detailed project reports (DPRs) and detailed estimates for an additional 6,000 route kilometers. Kavach 4.0 specifications were approved by RDSO in July 2024. This version includes all the key features required for diverse railway networks. This is a significant milestone in safety for Indian Railways. Within a short period, Indian Railways has developed, tested, and begun deploying the Automatic Train Protection system. To enhance capacity and accelerate implementation, more OEMs are undergoing testing and approval in various phases. The cost of providing Kavach, including trackside station equipment, is approximately ₹50 lakh per kilometer, and the cost of providing Kavach equipment on locomotives is around ₹70 lakh per locomotive.
So far, ₹1,216.77 crore has been utilized for Kavach works. An allocation of ₹1,112.57 crore has been made for the year 2024-25.
