Advanced version of Kavach ready for commissioning on 324 km of Mathura-Kota section: Vaishnaw
Asked to give an update in the Lok Sabha on the installation status of Kavach in the Indian Railways by June 30, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw reiterated his earlier statements, saying the automatic train-protection system is provided progressively in a phased manner and it has already been deployed on 1,548 route km in the South Central Railway and North Central Railway.
"Presently, work is in progress on Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah corridors (approximately 3,000 RKm). Track side works on these routes have been completed on about 2,200 RKm as on 30.06.2025," Vaishnaw said in a written reply."After extensive and elaborate trials in 324 kms of Mathura-Kota section for advance version of Kavach 4.0, the section is approved by Independent Safety Assessor (ISA) and the section is ready for commissioning. This is also the first section to be approved by ISA for Kavach version 4.0," he added.Providing the details of the installation of various components of Kavach, the minister said the laying of optical fibre cable has been done up to 5,856 km, 619 telecom towers have been installed, 708 stations have got Kavach equipment, 1,107 locos have been fitted with the Kavach system and the installation of track-side equipment has been completed on 4,001 route km.
Vaishnaw said the installation of Kavach has been sanctioned on railway routes, such as Mumbai-Pune, Mumbai-Bhusawal including Mumbai Area, Igatpuri-Badnera-Nagpur-Narkher, Balharshah, Lonavla-Pune-Daund-Baramati, Ankai-Pune-Miraj-Kolhapur, Kurdwadi-Latur, Purna-Akola, including branch lines in Maharashtra, totalling 3,856 route km.He also informed the House that similarly, 1,219 route km in Madhya Pradesh, including in the Narker-Jujharpur, Amla-Parasia-Chindwara, Wagoda-Khandwa, Dhaulpur-Agasod, Itarsi-Bina, Ratlam-Jawad and Nagda-Bhopa sections, have been sanctioned for Kavach installation."The cost for provision of track side including station equipment of Kavach is approximately Rs 50 lakh/km and cost for provision of Kavach equipment on locomotives is approximately Rs 80 lakh/loco," the minister said."The funds utilised on Kavach works so far up to June '25 is Rs 2,015 crore. The allocation of funds during the year 2025-26 is Rs 1,673.19 crore. Requisite funds are made available as per the progress of works," he added.
Kavach aids the loco pilot in running rains within specified speed limits by automatic application of brakes, in case the loco pilot fails to do so, and also helps the trains run safely during inclement weather. PTI
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