Railways needs more players to instal 'Kavach' on entire network in 5 years: Concord

New Delhi, Nov 13 (PTI) Concord Control Systems Limited, which recently bagged an order to instal automatic train protection system 'Kavach' on a 53-km route of South Central Railway for field trial, has emphasised the need for more players in the rail safety ecosystem to cover the entire network within five years.

An indigenously developed automatic train protection (ATP) system, Kavach helps loco pilots run trains within specified speed limits by automatic application of brakes in case they fail to do so.

Concord recently received both field trial orders and technical approval for its product, enabling it to participate in tenders for Kavach installations floated by various railway zones.

Besides Concord, there are about five other companies which have already got approval to instal Kavach.

“Kavach installation was initially planned to be completed by 2035. However, following recent accidents and mishaps, the government is now focused on installing Kavach across the entire rail network within the next five years instead of 10.

"So, even if 50 more companies enter the field, there will be enough work for everyone,” Gaurav Lath, Joint Managing Director, Concord, said.

He added, “There are approximately 78,000 track kilometres and more than 18,000 locomotives on which Kavach installation needs to be done. Putting all together, it represents a market size of more than Rs 45,000 crore.” According to the railway ministry, Kavach is an indigenously designed, developed, and manufactured ATP system whose first field trials on passenger trains were started in February 2016, before its adaptation as national ATP system in July 2020.

Though Kavach installations are going on in various railway zones and divisions, it is still not operational anywhere in the country.

Lath said that under the approval for the 53-km field trial, the product must complete 5,000 loco kms, meaning one or multiple locomotives will run several times over this 53-km stretch.

“We will start the deployment and installation process for the trial in a couple of weeks,” Lath, whose company just acquired Fusion Electronics for railway tech expansion in India, said.

When asked about the timeline for completing the trial, Lath said, “It is very difficult to define a specific timeline, but in the best case scenario, it can be completed in 31 days and in the worst case, it may take a few months.” He also noted that the entire Kavach architecture is designed to ensure interoperability among all the manufacturers’ protocols, allowing seamless integration across stations for the Indian Railways.

Concord, which recently announced an 85 per cent increase in profit after tax and a 64 per cent rise in revenue from operations year-on-year, believes that enhanced capacity, faster execution and wider participation will be key for achieving early, full-scale national deployment of Kavach. PTI JP ARI