Kavach, the automatic train protection system developed by Atmanirbhar Bharat, has been successfully implemented on 1,465 route kilometers (RKMS) on the south central railway network. This initiative is an important step taken by Indian Railways in achieving the vision of a self-reliant India envisioned by the Prime Minister. Developed by the Research Design and Standards Organization (RDSO) in collaboration with Indian industries, South Central Railway has been deeply involved in the implementation of the system since its development stage.
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The Kavach system, which automatically applies the brakes if the locomotive pilot fails to act, has been installed on several sections of the South Central Railway, covering 144 locomotives. The system is designed to improve safety by providing real-time updates on movement authority, automatic whistles at level crossings and collision prevention through direct communication between locomotives. This system also has an emergency SOS function in case of any accident.
A major development in Kavach’s journey came with the approval of Kavach 4.0, which will soon be installed on 10,000 locomotives of Indian Railways. This upgrade promises to further improve the operational safety of trains and accelerate the rollout of the system across the national rail network in the coming years. The latest version of Kavach has already been operational on 63 kilometers on the Sanatnagar-Vikarabad stretch, and the earlier version, Kavach 3.2, has been deployed on several other stretches, including Nagarsol-Mudkhed, Secunderabad-Kurnool and Bidar-Parbhani.
The timeline of Kavach development reflects the progress made in advancing safety technologies within the Indian Railways. It began as a pilot project in 2014-15 and required years of rigorous testing and finalization of specifications. In July 2020, it was declared a national ATP system and in July 2024, the Kavach 4.0 specifications were approved, incorporating comments and lessons from previous versions.
