Railways approves Rs 341 crore Kavach rollout for Ambala and Ahmedabad divisions
New Delhi, June 15
Indian Railways has sanctioned Rs 341 crore for expanding its indigenously developed train protection system Kavach across Ambala Division of Northern Railway and Ahmedabad Division of Western Railway, taking the safety net to more high-density passenger and freight corridors in Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.
According to the Ministry of Railways, the Ambala Division project covers 811 route kilometres and has been approved at a cost of Rs 201 crore.
The Ambala rollout will cover key rail corridors connecting three states. The Ministry of Railways said the sanctioned work will include "Ambala Cantonment-Ludhiana, Kalka-Chandigarh-New Morinda-Sahnewal, Sirhind-Daulatpur Chowk, Rajpura-Bathinda-Shri Ganganagar and Ludhiana-Dhuri-Jakhal sections." The ministry noted these routes "serve as key rail corridors connecting the states of Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. They handle substantial passenger and freight traffic and play an important role in the movement of people and goods across the region," Railways said.
For Gujarat, Indian Railways approved Kavach Version 4.0 on 598 route kilometres of Ahmedabad Division at Rs 140 crore. The Ministry of Railways said: "Indian Railways has approved the installation of Kavach Version 4.0 on 598 route kilometres covering 48 block sections of the Ahmedabad Division of Western Railway in Gujarat. The project has been sanctioned at a cost of Rs 140 crore."
With this, the division's entire network will be covered as earlier work on about 702 route kilometres was already sanctioned.
The ministry highlighted Kavach's safety functions in both releases. It explained that Kavach is "an indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system designed to enhance operational safety. It helps prevent Signal Passing at Danger (SPAD), automatically applies brakes when required to avert unsafe situations, controls train speed in critical conditions, and significantly reduces the risk of collisions."
Indian Railways said the expansion is part of its broader safety push.
The Ministry of Railways stated, "Indian Railways is progressively expanding Kavach across its network as part of its ongoing efforts to improve safety, reliability and capacity on high-density and strategically important routes." For Ahmedabad, it added the deployment will help "strengthen safety and modernise train operations."
— ANI
Reader Comments
Good initiative but I'm skeptical about implementation. We often hear announcements but ground reality is different. Rs 341 crore is a huge amount - hope there's proper monitoring and transparency in spending. Also, what about training staff to use this system effectively? Technology alone isn't enough.
Impressive to see India developing its own ATP system rather than importing foreign tech. Kavach V4.0 covering 598 route km in Ahmedabad alone is significant. The ability to prevent SPAD and automatic braking could have prevented many accidents we've seen in recent years. Safety first! 🙏
As someone who travels regularly on the Kalka-Chandigarh-New Morinda route, I'm relieved! That stretch gets very crowded with both passenger and freight trains. Hope they also improve signalling infrastructure simultaneously. But yes, better late than never. 👍
Rs 341 crore sounds like a lot but given the scale (1409 route km total), it's actually quite reasonable. Compare this to global standards - Japan and Europe spend much more on similar systems. What I'd like to see is faster rollout on the entire network, not just select divisions. Every passenger life matters.
Good move but this is just a drop in the ocean. Indian Railways has over 65,000 route km - covering just 1409 km is not enough. Need to expedite Kavach installation on all high-density and accident-prone routes. The technology is indigenous, so why not produce and deploy it faster? Come on Railways, speed up! ⏩