Railways switches to fast track for Kavach rollout

New Delhi: The Indian Railways has fast-tracked deployment of automatic train protection (ATP) system Kavach on a fifth of its network, with contracts for installing the system on 10,000 locomotives and 1,105 route kilometres (RKM) of tracks set to be awarded this month, said officials.

The national transporter has also thrown its weight behind a 2030 Kavach Rollout Plan that targets manifold ramp-up of installed capacity, they said.

"Bids have been invited for 14,735 RKM while over 1,500 RKM of Kavach is operational. Work is also underway on 3,000 RKM of tracks for Kavach deployment," said a senior official, who did not wish to be identified.

The ongoing bids will cover 3,375 RKM of Delhi-Chennai and Mumbai- Chennai sections. Another 5,715 RKM of automatic block sections are also being covered, in addition to bids for track side Kavach works spanning 5,645 RKM.

Tenders for installing Kavach on another 17,000 RKM are planned for 2025-26. "These will be followed by tenders for 30,000 RKM Kavach over 2026-27 and 2027-28," the official said.

With this, almost 90% of the total track network will be covered with ATP systems.

Indigenously developed Kavach aims to prevent dangerous train collisions caused by human errors or limitations and equipment failures by providing an additional layer of safety in train operations. It also assists loco pilots by offering real-time display of signalling related information. This is essential for running trains faster than 120 km per hour.

Kavach was installed on the pilot project section of 250 RKM on South Central Railway in 2014-15. The first field trials on passenger trains started a year later. Kavach was declared a national ATP system in July 2020 and by March 2022, it was installed on another 1,200 RKM as an extended section.

Kavach Version 4.0, the most advanced specification of this technology, was approved by the Railways' Research Design and Standards Organisation in July this year. It was installed and commissioned on the 108 RKM Kota-Sawai Madhopur section in September. Trials on 84 RKM of Ahmedabad-Vadodara section are also underway.

The latest version meets challenges of mixed traffic, speed differential and variety of rolling stock on the Indian Railways network.