Approval for Kavach 4.0 on Moradabad Division
Indian Railways has approved the deployment of Kavach Version 4.0 on the remaining sections covering 712 route kilometres of the Moradabad Division, Northern Railway, at a total cost of Rs 170 crore, according to an official statement from the Ministry of Railways released on Tuesday.
The approved work is intended to strengthen the division's safety infrastructure through the deployment of the indigenous Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system. The ministry said the implementation will provide an advanced safety layer for train operations across the identified sections.
Kavach is an indigenously developed 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, the ministry explained.
"The initiative forms part of Indian Railways' continued efforts to expand Kavach coverage across its network and modernise railway signalling and train protection systems," the statement noted.
Broader Safety Context and Statistics
The approval comes amid a wider push to improve railway safety. According to figures the ministry provided in July, train accidents dropped 88 per cent to 16 incidents in 2025–26 from 135 in 2014–15, with just two in the current year up to June. The Consequential Accident Index — accidents per million train-kilometres — fell to 0.01 in 2025–26 from 0.11 in 2014–15, marking a reduction of about 91 per cent.
Expenditure on safety-related activities has risen steadily, from Rs 39,200 crore in 2013–14 to Rs 1,20,389 crore in 2026–27, according to the ministry.
In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said expenditure of Rs 1,14,973 crore has been incurred till July against the total budget grant of Rs 2,93,030 crore for the current financial year. He also informed the House that Kavach Version 4.0 has been successfully commissioned on 2,633 route kilometres as of July 31, 2026, with deployment covering 1,423 route km on the Delhi-Mumbai corridor and 1,210 route km on the Delhi-Howrah corridor.
The minister's reply also indicated that Kavach Version 4.0 is planned for large-scale deployment over Indian Railways. Trackside Kavach implementation work has been taken up on 21,794 route kilometres covering all Golden Quadrilateral, Golden Diagonal, High Density Network and other identified sections.
Infrastructure and Safety Measures
Beyond Kavach, the ministry has highlighted other safety measures. Electrical and electronic interlocking systems with centralised operation have been provided at 6,671 stations, with complete track circuiting at all these stations. Interlocking of Level Crossing (LC) Gates has been provided at 10,395 Level Crossing Gates to enhance safety at these crossings.
The ministry has also reported the installation of key components for the Kavach system, including 11,547 km of optical fibre cable, 1,721 telecom towers, station data centres at 1,009 stations, trackside equipment covering 7,726 route kilometres, and Kavach systems installed in 6,290 locomotives. Work has also been taken up to equip another 7,190 locomotives and 1,200 EMU/MEMU trains with the system.
These figures were included in the minister's Lok Sabha reply and reflect the ongoing modernisation of the country's rail network, as reported by ANI.