Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced on Thursday that the long-awaited completion of the anti-collision system, KAVACH, on the Delhi-Kolkata and Delhi-Mumbai railway corridors is on track for the fiscal year 2024-2025.
The KAVACH project, an automatic train protection (ATP) system, was approved for implementation in 2016. Developed in India, the KAVACH system assists the train’s loco pilot in adhering to specified speed limits automatically applying brakes if the pilot fails to do so. It also helps the train run safely during inclement weather.
Vaishnaw expressed that the KAVACH system is continuously evolving and will introduce the Next Generation KAVATCH, equipped with 4G/5G-based systems, which is expected to set new standards in infrastructure technology. The tender for this advanced technology is set to be revealed next month.
Furthermore, the government has set an ambitious goal of covering 2,500 kilometers per year, with a projected leap to 5000 kilometers per year in 2025-2026.
The announcement comes amidst discussions spurred a tragic triple-train accident in Odisha’s Balasore on June 2, which resulted in the loss of nearly 300 lives and left about 1,000 injured.
Vaishnaw also revealed that the railways have launched new technology to protect elephants in their corridors. The technology has been successfully tested on a 150-kilometer stretch in Assam and is set to be installed in 700 kilometers of elephant-prone areas in the coming months at a cost of Rs 181 crore. This initiative will benefit states such as Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Kerala, Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh, and Tamil Nadu.