New Delhi: Indian Railways has commissioned Kavach 4.0, its indigenous automatic train protection system, on Gujarat’s Bajwa (Vadodara)-Ahmedabad rail section, marking a key expansion of the safety technology.
The 96-km stretch covers 17 stations and is equipped with an extensive support infrastructure, including 23 towers, 20 equipment huts, 192 km of optical fibre cable and 2,872 RFID tags.
The Sankalp Fast Passenger (59549/59550) became the first train on the route to operate with Kavach, running with a WAP-7 locomotive and 11 LHB coaches.
With the system now fully functional, Kavach 4.0 is designed to automatically reduce safety risks by preventing incidents such as Signal Passed at Danger (SPAD), enforcing speed limits and protecting against head-on and rear-end collisions.
Additional features include emergency SOS alerts and automatic whistling at level crossing gates.
Kavach, developed by Indian Railways, has been implemented across more than 2,200 route kilometres so far. Certified at Safety Integrity Level-4 (SIL-4), the system automatically applies brakes in case of overspeeding or potential hazards, supporting safe operations even in adverse weather.
Approved by the RDSO after upgrades and independent assessments, Kavach 4.0 offers improved location accuracy, better signal visibility and seamless integration with existing signalling systems, reinforcing Railways’ push for safer and smarter operations.
