India's capability to deploy the automatic train collision avoidance system 'Kavach' would get a boost with approval being given to global companies, Siemens and Japan's Kyosan for deploying it on the Indian Railways network.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has announced that Kavach deployment will increase to 5,000 km per year by FY26, up from the current 1,500 km annually. By March 2025, the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah railway routes will be fitted with the anti-train collision system.

Currently, 1,659 km of railway lines have the system installed, with an additional 500 km set to be covered by March, 2024. Over the next three years, the aim is to extend this safety measure to encompass at least 5,000 km of tracks.

Tenders for the installation of Kavach over 3,000 km were awarded in December last year, and 98 percent of the radio survey on the routes has been completed so far. The Railway Minister stated that bids for installing Kavach on another 2,500 km of railway networks will be awarded soon. Moreover, the next generation of Kavach will be based on long-term evolution (LTE), also known as 4G and 5G technology. Two tenders to upgrade existing Kavach networks and another to deploy the technology over a longer route will be awarded in the next financial year.

Until now, only three firms, Medha Servo Drives, HBL Power Systems, and Kernex Microsystems, had the rights to deploy Kavach. However, with the recent approvals, Indian Railways’ capability to install Kavach will be further enhanced.

Kavach is an automatic train protection system which was developed indigenously by the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) in collaboration with the Indian industry, and is a cost-effective Safety Integrity Level 4 (SIL-4) certified technology.