The Ministry of Railways sanctioned a suite of projects totaling ₹1,236 crore on March 25, 2026 , aimed at modernising the national transporter’s communication backbone and expanding the Kavach 4.0 automatic train protection system.
Project Breakdown by Railway Zone :
- Central Railway got allocation of ₹623.63 crore):
- Installation of Optical Ground Wire (OPGW) along 2,250 km of electrified routes.
- Laying of underground optical fibre cables (OFC) over 2,673 km across Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Bhusawal and Solapur divisions to create a redundant, dual-path communication network.
- Southern Railway got allocation of ₹310.18 crore
- Deployment of Kavach 4.0 over 548 km of high traffic routes spanning Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.
- Key sections include Jolarpettai–Erode, Chennai Beach–Tambaram–Chengalpattu and Shoranur–Mangalore.
- Western Railway got allocation of ₹302.26 crore:
- Completion of the optical fibre backbone in Gujarat’s Rajkot and Bhavnagar divisions, covering 1,653 km to fill existing network gaps.
Strategic Objectives of kavach 4.0
- The Kavach system automatically applies brakes to prevent collisions in the event of signal violations or potential head-on conflicts and enhance Safety
- The robust fibre network is essential for supporting future LTE-based train control and high-speed data exchange represent future rediness
- Indian Railways plans to monetise surplus fibre capacity by leasing dark fibre to telecom and data service providers , it will act as revenue generators
Current Implementation Status
As of March 2026, the progress of the Kavach project includes:
- Approximately 2,200 route kilometres have been covered under the system so far has total coverage
- The 344 km ( Vadodara–Surat–Virar section ) was commissioned on January 30, 2026. The Vadodara–Nagda section is targeted for completion in March 2026.
- Over 4,154 locomotives have been equipped with Kavach, with bids invited for an additional 9,069 units
This investment is part of a larger push by the Ministry of Railways to integrate indigenous safety technology with advanced digital infrastructure
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