In a significant step towards improving railway safety, Indian Railways has expanded the Kavach system across a major portion of the Mumbai–New Delhi route.
Major stretch of key corridor now under Kavach
According to the Hindustan Times, Western Railway recently commissioned Kavach 4.0 on the Vadodara–Nagda section, taking the total coverage to 559.5 km out of 693 km on this high-density corridor under its jurisdiction. The system was inaugurated by Western Railway General Manager Pradeep Kumar, who flagged off a Kavach-enabled special train from Vadodara. Officials confirmed that the newly added section covers over 224 km, including stretches between Vadodara–Mangal Mahudi and Panchpipliya–Nagda. Work on the remaining portion is currently underway and expected to be completed soon.
Indigenous system aims to reduce human error
Kavach is an advanced, indigenously developed train protection system designed to enhance operational safety. It helps prevent accidents caused by human error, especially incidents like Signal Passing at Danger (SPAD). The implementation involved extensive infrastructure upgrades, including the installation of over 6,000 RFID tags, setting up 39 radio towers and laying nearly 600 km of optical fibre cable. Continuous communication has also been established across multiple stations, block sections and locomotives. So far, Kavach has been installed in several locomotive classes such as WAP-7, WAG-9 and WAP-5, with 364 locomotives on Western Railway already equipped with the system.
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Cost-effective alternative to global systems
Railway officials highlighted that Kavach is far more cost-effective compared to global systems like the European Train Control System (ETCS), making it suitable for large-scale deployment across India. In the 2025–26 financial year alone, Western Railway has commissioned Kavach across 659.5 km of track, reflecting the pace of expansion under Mission Raftaar.
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With most of the Mumbai–New Delhi corridor now under Kavach, Indian Railways has taken a major step towards safer and smarter train operations. As work continues on the remaining sections, the system is expected to play a key role in reducing accidents and improving overall efficiency on one of the country’s busiest routes.
