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Kavach is an indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system, which is a highly technology-intensive system. It helps loco pilots to run trains within specified speed limits by applying automatic brakes in case of failure.
According to officials, significant progress has been made with about 25% of the work underway and installation of critical components on the remaining routes.
“We are trying our level best to operationalize Kavach on the Mumbai-Delhi and Delhi-Kolkata routes, hopefully this will be achieved in 2026,” officials said.
The Railway Ministry said on August 7, 2024 that the armor work on the said route will be completed by March 2025. It announced the extension of the deadline from March to December 2025 in a budget document titled ‘Railway Estimates for Revised Estimates 2024-25 and Budget Estimates 2025-26’ on February 1, 2025.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav provided an update on the progress of Kavach installation in the Lok Sabha on December 17 when Congress MP Mallu Ravi asked about the specific reason for the revised deadline of December 2025 for installation of ‘Kavach’ 4.0 on the high-density Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata routes and the percentage of completion of this work by November 1, 2025.
Vaishnav said, “After extensive and detailed trials, Kavach version 4.0 has been successfully operationalized on 738 route km on Palwal-Mathura-Nagda section (633 route km) on Delhi-Mumbai route and Howrah-Bardhaman section (105 route km) on Delhi-Howrah route.”
“Kavach implementation has been done in the remaining sections of Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah corridors,” he said. Updating the Lower House on the progress of armor components on high-density routes including the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah corridors, the minister said optical fiber cables have been laid on 7129 kilometers with installation of 800 telecom towers.
He said other armor components, such as station armour, have been installed at 860 stations, track-side equipment on 5672 route km and loco armor on 4,154 locomotives.
Experts said with the significant increase in train operations over the years, loco pilots need technical support to reduce the risk of human error.
The first field trials of Kavach on passenger trains were started in February 2016 and it was adopted as the national ATP system in July 2020.
The ministry claimed that it tested the Kavach 3.2 version on 1465 routes on South Central Railways and used the experience to launch the 4.0 version on July 16, 2024.
“Kavach version 4.0 covers all the key features required for the diverse railway network. This is a significant milestone in security for Indian Railways. Within a short period of time, IR has started developing, testing and deploying the Automated Train Protection System,” Vaishnav said in his reply in the Lok Sabha.
He said track-side armor implementation work has been initiated on 15,512 route km covering all Golden Quadrilateral (GQ), Golden Diagonal (GD), and High Density Network (HDN) and identified sections of Indian Railways.
He also said bids have been invited to equip another 9,069 locomotives with armor version 4.0 as it is phased in on the locomotives.
Highlighting the challenges, officials said that initially, there were only three companies that were given approval to install armor on the Indian Railways network, but now several new companies are in the process of getting approval.
“The number of companies approved to install the armor is now more than five, and we are expecting it to cross 20 in 2026. Indian Railways needs more than 50 original equipment manufacturers to speed up the installation process, as the broad-gauge network is 78,000 km long and will continue to expand with the addition of new areas to the rail network,” officials said.