Indian Railways (IR) will deploy automatic train protection system Kavach on 631 route km of East Coast Railway at a cost of ₹270 crore. This decision was approved on Monday.
The project covers six important railway sections of East Coast Railway, namely Baghuapal–Budhapank, Haridaspur–Paradeep, Khurda Road -Balangir, Naupada-Gunupur, Lanjigarh Road-Junagarh and Bobbili-Salur.
Meanwhile on June 15, 2026, IR had approved the installation of Kavach on 811 route km of Ambala Division, Northern Railway at a cost of ₹201 crore.
The sanctioned works will cover important rail routes in the Ambala Division, including Ambala Cantonment–Ludhiana, Kalka–Chandigarh–New Morinda–Sahnewal, Sirhind–Daulatpur Chowk, Rajpura–Bathinda–Shri Ganganagar and Ludhiana–Dhuri–Jakhal sections.
On the same day (June 15), IR also approved the installation of Kavach Version 4.0 on 598 route km covering 48 block sections of the Ahmedabad Division of Western Railway in Gujarat at a cost of ₹140 crore.
These sanctioned works forms part of IR’s umbrella programme for deployment of Kavach with LTE-based communication backbone across the IR network.
Kavach is an indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system designed to enhance operational safety. It helps prevent Signal Passing at Danger (SPAD), automatically applies brakes when required to avert unsafe situations, controls train speed in critical conditions, and significantly reduces the risk of collisions. The system continuously monitors train movement and applies brakes automatically whenever required, improving operational safety. In addition, Kavach enables safer and more reliable train movement during adverse weather conditions, including dense fog, thereby improving service reliability and punctuality.
