Indian Railways sanctions Rs 341 cr for Kavach expansion in 4 states

Indian Railways has approved Rs 341 crore to install its indigenous Kavach train protection system across Ambala and Ahmedabad divisions, enhancing safety on key routes in Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Gujarat.

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.

Ambala Division Expansion

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.

Ahmedabad Division Gets Kavach 4.0

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.

What is Kavach?

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."

Broader Safety Push

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."

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)