Indian Railways has commissioned Kavach 4.0, the latest version of its indigenous Automatic Train Protection system, across 1,452 route kilometres on the high-density Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah corridors. The rollout marks an important step in improving train safety, especially on some of the busiest and most critical sections of the national rail network.
What Kavach 4.0 Does
Kavach is an indigenous safety system designed to assist loco pilots in maintaining safe speed and signal compliance. It automatically applies brakes if the driver does not respond in time. It also supports safe train operations in low-visibility conditions such as fog. The upgraded version improves location accuracy, signal communication and integration with electronic interlocking systems.
Deployment Across Major Corridors
The system has been installed on several important sections, including Palwal-Mathura-Nagda, Vadodara-Ahmedabad, Vadodara-Virar, Gaya-Sarmatanr and Chota Ambana-Bardhaman-Howrah. Deployment involves trackside equipment, RFID tags, telecom towers, optical fibre cables and onboard devices fitted on locomotives. The system is being expanded across the Golden Quadrilateral, Golden Diagonal and other high-density routes.
Infrastructure and Training Push
Large-scale supporting infrastructure has been created for the rollout. So far, 8,570 kilometres of optical fibre cable have been laid, 1,100 telecom towers installed and 6,776 route kilometres of trackside equipment deployed. Kavach devices have been fitted on 4,154 locomotives, while work has begun for installation on 8,979 more locomotives and 1,200 EMU/MEMU train sets. More than 55,000 technicians, engineers and operators have received training in the system.
Safety Gains and Investment
Railway safety spending has increased sharply in recent years. The ministry said consequential train accidents have fallen from 135 in 2014-15 to 14 in 2025-26 up to February 2026. The consequential accident index has also improved . The government has spent ₹2,763.9 crore on Kavach implementation up to February 2026, with further allocation made for 2025-26. Other safety measures include electronic interlocking, level crossing gate interlocking and complete track circuiting at thousands of stations.
Last Modified: April 28, 2026