Automatic train protection system Kavach commissioned on 654 km of routes till Sep 2025: RTI

New Delhi, Nov 24 (PTI) The latest version of the automatic train protection system, Kavach 4.0, has been installed and commissioned on 654 km of rail track by September 2025, the Railway Ministry said in an RTI response.

The ministry also said the Kavach system has been installed at 155 railway stations and 2,892 locomotives.

Railway ministry officials said that extensive work is happening in all 18 railway zones across the country, and very soon, more sections will start being commissioned.

Kavach helps loco pilots operate trains within specified speed limits by automatically applying brakes if they fail to do so.

It is an indigenously designed, developed, and manufactured system whose first field trials on passenger trains began in February 2016 and was adopted as the national Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system in July 2020.

Responding to a Right to Information Act (RTI) query, the Railway Ministry gave details of the specified routes.

The 324 route km Kota-Mathura section was commissioned on July 30, 2025, and subsequently the contiguous 225 route km Kota-Nagda section was commissioned on October 7, 2025.

In rail terms, "route km" refers to the distance of a transportation route, irrespective of the number of tracks.

"With this, the entire Mathura-Nagda (549 route km) section has been provided with Kavach 4.0,” the ministry said.

“In addition, Kavach 4.0 has also been commissioned on the Howrah-Bardhaman section of Eastem Railway covering 105 route km on 12.09.2025,” it added.

Chandra Shekhar Gaur, the RTI applicant, also sought information regarding the number of stations and locomotives where Kavach has been installed till September 2025.

Kavach is a complex system having multiple components, such as loco kavach, station kavach, telecom Towers, RFID tags throughout the track length, among many others.

“As on 31.10.25, a total of 2,892 numbers of locomotives have been equipped with the Kavach System,” the ministry said.

It added that 77 stations between Mathura-Kota, 53 between Kota-Nagda in West Central Railways (WCR) and 26 stations between Howrah-Barddhaman in Eastern Railways have been equipped with station Kavach, totalling 155 stations up to September this year.

The ministry has also revealed the year-wise expenditure on Kavach since 2020. It spent Rs 66.04 crore in 2020-2021, Rs 98.42 crore in 2021-22, Rs 156.26 crore in 2022-23, Rs 669.76 crore in 2023-24 and Rs 926.37 crore in 2024-25.

In the current financial year, the total expenditure incurred on Kavach installation up to September 2025 is Rs 351.49 crore, which amounts to Rs 2,268.34 crore in six and a half years, the ministry said.

Gaur questioned the slow pace of Kavach installation. "The Railway Ministry claimed that the entire rail network of about 1,13,000 km will be brought under Kavach in another six years but seeing the current rate of installation, it looks impossible.” “There are over 15,000 locomotives and 7,000 railway stations where the equipment needs to be installed,” he added.

Officials said that with the arrival of new companies, the installation work has accelerated.

“It is a complex technology. Initially, the Kavach 3.2 was installed on 1,465 km for the trial process in South Central Railway. Kavach 4.0 version was approved on July 16, 2024, and since then its deployment is going on a war footing,” a railway official said.

He added, “Initially, only three companies were allowed to install Kavach, but today more than half a dozen companies are doing it, and more than 15 are in the approval process. So, the installation work is going to accelerate manyfold in the coming few months.” PTI JP JP SKY SKY