New Delhi, Jan 30 (IANS) The Indian Railways on Friday commissioned 472.3 route kilometres of Kavach Version 4.0 (Automatic Train Protection System) across three sections of its network, marking another significant milestone in strengthening rail safety.

The newly commissioned sections include Vadodara–Virar (344 km) on the Western Railway, Tuglakabad Junction Cabin–Palwal (35 km) on the Northern Railway, and Manpur–Sarmatanr (93.3 km) on the East Central Railway. With this commissioning, Indian Railways continues to accelerate the deployment of the indigenous Kavach system to enhance train protection, operational safety, and reliability across high-density routes, a Railways Ministry statement said.

Kavach integrates microprocessors, Global Positioning System (GPS), and radio communication technologies to ensure safe train operations. When another train is detected on the same track within a predefined distance, the system alerts the locomotive pilot and, if required, automatically applies brakes through onboard equipment.

This commissioning marks the highest ever route kilometres (RKms) of Kavach commissioned on a single day, as well as in a month. The previous highest commissioning stood at 324 RKm on the Kota–Mathura section of the West Central Railway. With the latest addition, Kavach Version 4.0 has now been commissioned across five zones of Indian Railways.

After Friday’s inclusion, Kavach Version 4.0 has been commissioned over a total of 1,306.3 RKms across Indian Railways. Prior to this, Kavach Version 4.0 had been commissioned on 834 RKms. This included the Palwal–Mathura–Nagda section (633 RKm) of the Delhi–Mumbai route and the Howrah–Bardhaman section (105 RKm) of the Delhi–Howrah route. In addition, 96 RKms were commissioned on Gujarat’s first Bajwa (Vadodara)–Ahmedabad section.

Indian Railways successfully commissioned Kavach 4.0 on the 35-km Tuglakabad Junction Cabin–Palwal section of the four-line Delhi–Mumbai route, which spans 152 main line track kilometres. Kavach has been installed in a complete stretch of this corridor comprising major station yards, two main lines with an automatic signalling system and two lines with absolute block signalling.

The commissioning marks a significant safety upgrade on one of the busiest and high-density corridors of the Indian Railways, covering the Delhi suburban and long-distance rail network. This section is a high-traffic stretch catering to passenger, suburban, and freight trains. Commissioning of Kavach on this section significantly enhances operational safety, reliability, and passenger confidence.

Indian Railways has also commenced train operations with Kavach 4.0 on the 93.3 km Manpur–Sarmatanr section of the DDUGJ–Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya division. The first Kavach-enabled service, Train No 13305 Sasaram Intercity Express, operated successfully on this section, departing Sone Nagar at 07.42 a.m. and arriving at Manpur at 09.35 a.m. During the run, a head-on collision test was conducted, in which the train automatically stopped, validating the system’s effectiveness.

Kavach is also being installed over 4,235 RKms of East Central Railway, including 417 RKms on the Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction–Manpur section, a critical part of the Delhi–Howrah trunk route passing through Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand. The section carries mixed traffic and is currently cleared for 130 kmph, with works in progress under Mission Raftar to enhance the speed potential to 160 kmph.

Work on the Vadodara–Surat–Virar section on the Delhi-Mumbai route commenced in January 2023, and Kavach was successfully commissioned on this 344-km section on Friday. This historic milestone was achieved with Train No. 20907, the Dadar–Bhuj Sayajinagri Express, becoming the first KAVACH-equipped train to run from Mumbai.

Work on the Vadodara–Nagda section is progressing at a fast pace and is expected to be commissioned by March 2026, while work on the Virar–Mumbai Central section is also progressing well and is targeted for completion by September 2026, the statement added.

–IANS

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