Railways rolls out Kavach 4.0 on Mathura-Kota section for safety boost

Kavach 4.0 deployed on high-density Delhi-Mumbai corridor to boost safety; nationwide expansion within six years, says Ministry of Railways

Indian Railways has commissioned its indigenous anti-collision system, Kavach, on the Mathura–Kota section of the rail network — part of the Delhi–Mumbai route, one of the highest-density corridors in India.

 

“Many developed nations took 20–30 years to develop and install train protection systems. The commissioning of Kavach 4.0 (the latest version) on the Kota–Mathura section has been achieved in a very short timeframe. This is a very big achievement,” Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday.

 

The Ministry of Railways said it will commission Kavach 4.0 on various routes across the country within a short span of six years.

 

“Over 30,000 people have already been trained on Kavach systems. The Indian Railway Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunications (IRISET) has signed memorandums of understanding with 17 AICTE-approved engineering colleges, institutions and universities for incorporating Kavach as part of their BTech course curriculum,” it said.

 

Kavach will assist loco pilots in maintaining train speed through effective brake application. Even in low-visibility conditions such as fog, loco pilots will not have to look outside from the cabin for signals — the information will be displayed on a dashboard inside the cab.

 

The indigenous anti-collision system, which initially saw slow progress — attributed by the government to the project’s complexity — has become central to the discourse on rail safety, especially after major incidents like the Balasore train crash in 2023, which claimed nearly 300 lives.

 

“Indian Railways invests more than Rs 1 trillion per year on safety-related activities. Kavach is one of the many initiatives taken to enhance the safety of passengers and trains. The progress made and the pace of deployment of Kavach reflect the commitment of Indian Railways towards ensuring railway safety,” the railways said.