Indian Railways Commissions Record 472 km of Kavach 4.0 in a Single Day

With this expansion, Kavach Version 4.0 is now operational across five zones of Indian Railways, reinforcing the rapid national rollout of the advanced safety system on some of the country’s busiest corridors.

Indian Railways today achieved a major rail safety milestone by commissioning 472.3 route kilometres (RKm) of Kavach Version 4.0, the indigenous Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system, across three high-density sections of its network. This marks the highest-ever Kavach commissioning in a single day and in a single month, significantly strengthening train safety, reliability and passenger confidence.

The newly commissioned Kavach 4.0 sections include:

• Vadodara–Virar (344 km) on Western Railway

• Tuglakabad Junction Cabin–Palwal (35 km) on Northern Railway

• Manpur–Sarmatanr (93.3 km) on East Central Railway

With this expansion, Kavach Version 4.0 is now operational across five zones of Indian Railways, reinforcing the rapid national rollout of the advanced safety system on some of the country’s busiest corridors.

Kavach coverage crosses 1,300 route kilometres

Following today’s commissioning, Kavach 4.0 now covers 1,306.3 route kilometres across the Indian Railways network. Prior to this, 834 route kilometres had already been commissioned, including:

• Palwal–Mathura–Nagda (633 km) on the Delhi–Mumbai route

• Howrah–Bardhaman (105 km) on the Delhi–Howrah route

• Bajwa (Vadodara)–Ahmedabad (96 km), Gujarat’s first Kavach-enabled section

The previous single-day record of 324 route kilometres was achieved on the Kota–Mathura section of West Central Railway.

Northern Railway: Safety boost on Delhi–Mumbai corridor

On Northern Railway, Kavach 4.0 was commissioned on the 35-km Tuglakabad Junction Cabin–Palwal section, part of the four-line Delhi–Mumbai high-density corridor spanning 152 main line track kilometres. The system has been installed across major station yards, two main lines with Automatic Signalling, and two lines with Absolute Block Signalling.

This upgrade significantly enhances safety on one of the busiest stretches of Indian Railways, catering to suburban, passenger and freight traffic, and strengthens operational reliability across the Delhi region.

East Central Railway: Kavach-tested in live operations

On East Central Railway, train operations commenced with Kavach 4.0 on the 93.3-km Manpur–Sarmatanr section of the Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya (DDUGJ) division. The first Kavach-enabled service, Train No. 13305 Sasaram Intercity Express, successfully operated on the section, during which a head-on collision test was conducted, and the system automatically stopped the train, validating its effectiveness.

Kavach installation is underway on 4,235 route kilometres of East Central Railway, including 417 km on the Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction–Manpur section, a crucial part of the Delhi–Howrah trunk route. This mixed-traffic section, currently cleared for 130 kmph, is being upgraded under Mission Raftar to support speeds of up to 160 kmph.

Western Railway: First Kavach train from Mumbai

A historic milestone was achieved on Western Railway with the commissioning of Kavach 4.0 on the 344-km Vadodara–Surat–Virar section of the Delhi–Mumbai route. The achievement was marked by Train No. 20907 Dadar–Bhuj Sayajinagri Express, which became the first Kavach-equipped train to run from Mumbai.

Work on the Vadodara–Nagda section is progressing rapidly and is expected to be commissioned by March 2026, while the Virar–Mumbai Central section is targeted for completion by September 2026. Kavach installation on locomotives is also advancing, with 364 Western Railway locomotives already equipped. Overall, 2,667 route kilometres on Western Railway have been sanctioned for Kavach, with execution underway across all sections.

A major leap in rail safety

The record-breaking commissioning underscores Indian Railways’ commitment to deploying home-grown safety technologies at scale. Kavach 4.0 not only prevents signal-passing-at-danger and overspeeding but also enhances safety on high-speed, high-density routes—laying the foundation for a safer, faster and more reliable rail network.