Indian Railways Expands Kavach 4.0 Deployment on Key High-Density Routes

Indian Railways Speeds Up Kavach 4.0 Rollout, Strengthening Safety on Delhi–Mumbai and Delhi–Howrah Corridors

Indian Railways has accelerated the deployment of Kavach 4.0 , the upgraded version of its indigenous Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system, with installation completed across 738 route kilometres on two of the nation’s busiest corridors—Delhi–Mumbai and Delhi–Howrah. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed Parliament that the pace of rollout reflects strong institutional focus on modernising safety systems and reducing human-error–led incidents.

Kavach 4.0: Enhanced Automatic Train Protection

Kavach 4.0 has been developed to enforce speed limits, prevent signal passing at danger, and automatically apply brakes when a locomotive pilot fails to respond. Certified to SIL-4 , the world’s highest Safety Integrity Level, the system ensures reliable functioning even in fog, low visibility, or severe weather—conditions that frequently disrupt operations on northern and eastern rail networks.

Key Upgrades in the Latest Version

The newest Kavach iteration features higher location accuracy, direct integration with electronic interlocking , and improved yard signalling inputs. An optical-fibre–enabled station interface enhances data transmission between trackside and onboard units, helping synchronise speed, signal, and track conditions for safer train movement. These upgrades make the system more robust along dense freight–passenger routes.

Five Core Sub-Systems That Support Kavach

The minister highlighted that Kavach’s architecture comprises:

• Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) network along the track,

• Telecom towers for uninterrupted radio connectivity,

• Edge data centres installed at stations,

• Trackside safety units , and

• Onboard equipment in locomotives.
  Together, they create a multi-layered protection framework enabling real-time decision-making.

Exam Oriented Facts

• Kavach 4.0 commissioned over 738 km on Delhi–Mumbai & Delhi–Howrah routes.

• Certified to SIL-4 , the highest international safety integrity level.

• Features OFC-based station interface and electronic interlocking integration .

• Five components: OFC , telecom towers, data centres, track units, onboard systems.

Driving a Modern and Safe Rail Network

With the upgraded Kavach now tested and deployed at scale, Indian Railways is positioning the system as a central element of its long-term safety modernisation strategy. The minister noted that while ATP technologies evolved globally over decades, India’s indigenous system is now progressing rapidly across high-density zones, putting the country on track to meet international safety benchmarks.