Railways Sanctions Rs 1,364 Crore for Kavach, Other Safety Works

The projects form part of the umbrella work titled “Provision of Kavach with communication backbone of Long Term Evolution (LTE) on balance routes of Indian Railways (Umbrella Work 2024–25)”, which has an overall sanctioned cost of Rs 27,693 crore. As part of the initiative, Indian Railways has sanctioned Rs 208.81 crore for installation of Kavach Version 4.0 equipment on 232 locomotives in Southern Railway. The work falls under a sub-umbrella allocation of Rs 2,950 crore earmarked for the zone and is aimed at strengthening train collision avoidance systems. In Northern Railway, projects worth Rs 400.86 crore have been approved to upgrade the communication backbone. These include provision of 2×48 fibre optical cable networks across Ambala, Delhi and Lucknow divisions, covering more than 3,200 route kilometres. The works are part of the broader programme for strengthening, repair and replacement of communication infrastructure across the network. Further, Rs 176.76 crore has been sanctioned for provision of 2×48 fibre OFC cables over 2,196 route kilometres in North Central Railway, covering Prayagraj, Jhansi and Agra divisions. This project is expected to support seamless Kavach rollout and enhance communication reliability on high-density routes. In South Central Railway, projects worth Rs 578.02 crore have been approved for replacement of panel interlocking systems with electronic interlocking at 49 stations across Guntakal and Nanded divisions. These works fall under the umbrella programme for signalling upgrades on high-density and high-utilisation routes and are aimed at reducing manual intervention while improving operational safety. The approved projects are part of Indian Railways’ broader strategy to modernise infrastructure, enhance safety and improve operational efficiency through deployment of advanced signalling and communication technologies. (KNN Bureau)