Indian Railways (IR) has approved a slew of signaling and telecom projects across three zones- South East Central Railway (SECR), South Eastern Railway (SER) and Eastern Railway (ER) since June 30,2026.
The projects are:
- Electronic Interlocking (EI) at 13 stations on SECR
- Electronic Interlocking (EI) at 27 stations/cabins on ER
- Optical Fibre Cable Project over 1700 km on SER
Electronic Interlocking (EI) at 13 stations on SECR
IR on Wednesday (July 1, 2026) approved the provision of Electronic Interlocking (EI) at 13 stations on the Durg-Taroki section of Raipur Division in South East Central Railway (SECR) at a cost of ₹226 crore.
The project will replace the existing Panel Interlocking (PI) system with Electronic Interlocking (EI) at 13 stations.
The sanctioned project covers the installation of Electronic Interlocking at the following stations of the Durg-Taroki section of Raipur Division: Marauda (MXA) Risama (RSA) Gundardehi (GDZ) Latabor (LBO) Balod (BXA) Kusumkasa (KYS) Dalli Rajhara (DRZ) Gudum (GUDM) Bhanupratappur (BPTP) Keoti (KETI) Antagarh (AAGH) Taroki (TDOK) and Raipur Store Depot (RSD)
Electronic Interlocking (EI) at 27 stations/cabins on ER
Indian Railways on June 30,2026 sanctioned a project worth ₹432 crore for the replacement of relay-based interlocking with Electronic Interlocking (EI) at 27 stations/cabins (including 1 IBS location) on the High Density Network (HDN) and Highly Utilised Network (HUN) routes of Asansol Division of Eastern Railway.
The sanctioned work includes the replacement of 28 relay-based interlocking installations (27 PI/RRI and 1 IBS) with state-of-the-art Electronic Interlocking systems, significantly enhancing the safety, reliability and operational efficiency of train operations. The project forms part of Indian Railways’ ongoing programme for the provision of Electronic Interlocking on HDN/HUN routes where advanced signalling systems such as Kavach, Automatic Block Signalling (ABS) and Centralised Traffic Control (CTC) are being implemented.
IR, on June 17, 2026 had already approved a ₹405 crore signalling upgradation project on ER involving the replacement of relay-based interlocking systems with Electronic Interlocking (EI) at 32 stations. This included 25 Panel Interlocking (PI)/Route Relay Interlocking (RRI) stations and 7 Intermediate Block Signalling (IBS) locations on ER.
The project is aligned with IR’s efforts to create a modern signalling ecosystem to support Kavach, Automatic Block Signalling and Centralised Traffic Control on high-density routes.
Electronic Interlocking is a modern signalling technology with computer-based interlocking, ensuring higher reliability, faster fault diagnosis, easier maintenance and enhanced operational flexibility. These projects will further strengthen railway safety while supporting higher line capacity and more efficient train operations.
Optical Fibre Cable Project over 1700 km on SER
To strengthen SER’s digital communication backbone, IR on June 30,2026, approved the provision of Balance 48-Fibre Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) over 1,696.2 Route Kilometres (RKm) at a cost of ₹200 crore. The project will provide 48-fibre OFC connectivity over SER’s four divisions as follows:
The sanctioned work covers installation of OFC across 545.4 RKm in Adra Division, 392.3 RKm in Chakradharpur Division, : 339.9 RKm in Kharagpur Division and 418.6 RKm in Ranchi Division totalling over 1,696.2 Rkm.
The upgraded fiber optic backbone will provide a robust, high-capacity communication network for railway operations, enhance the reliability and resilience of communication systems, support faster transmission of operational data, and improve coordination between stations, control offices and field units. The project will also provide the necessary communication infrastructure to support modern railway technologies, improve operational efficiency and strengthen the digital foundation for future capacity expansion across SER.
