Indian Railways aims to implement Kavach system across 44,000 km in 5 years

Kavach is an automated train protection safety system designed to prevent collisions on the same track. The Railway Ministry is working on its installation on the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah routes

After the West Bengal rail accident on June 17, Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday directed railway officials to accelerate the implementation of the Kavach system in a structured mission mode, according to a report in The Times of India.

The Ministry of Railways, on Friday, informed the Cabinet Secretary that the Indian Railways plans to implement the Kavach safety system across 44,000 km of track within the next five years. Kavach is an automated train protection system designed to prevent collisions on the same track.

During a review meeting focused on Kavach 4.0, Vaishnaw instructed officials to promptly equip all locomotives with the system once it is ready. According to the report, at present, three manufacturers are producing the Kavach system, while others are in different phases of development.

The Ministry of Railways is working on Kavach installation on the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah routes. Tenders for an additional 6,000 km are expected to be issued by the end of this year, the report said.

Most major railway networks globally transitioned to automatic train protection systems (ATP) similar to Kavach in the 1980s. The Indian Railways also adopted a similar system with the approval of the first version of the Train Collision Avoidance System (TACS) in 2016.

Following successful trials and achieving SIL-4 safety certification in 2019, the system was officially adopted as the national ATP system in 2020.

What is the Kavach system?

Kavach, an Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system created by the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) in partnership with three Indian companies, seeks to improve railway safety. It oversees train speeds and assists train operators in identifying signals of danger, ensuring safe operations even during challenging weather conditions.

It is an advanced electronic system designed to meet Safety Integrity Level-4 (SIL-4) standards.

How does the Kavach safety system work?  

Kavach operates by automatically applying brakes to trains if the driver does not respond promptly. It uses RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags placed along tracks and in station yards to determine track positions and train directions. When activated, trains within a 5-km radius stop to ensure the safe passage of nearby trains.

The On Board Display of Signal Aspect (OBDSA) enables train operators to monitor signals in adverse visibility conditions, thereby decreasing reliance on manual visual inspections.

During a successful test highlighted by Vaishnaw in 2022, Kavach demonstrated its ability to prevent rear-end collisions by automatically stopping a locomotive just 380 metres away from another in front.

Furthermore, the system supports emergency communication by transmitting SoS messages during critical situations.

The Indian Railways has initiated tenders for the installation of the Kavach system across 10,000 kilometres. Currently, the system has been implemented on 139 locomotives operating on the South Central Railway network.