Hyderabad, Apr 7 (IANS): With a total of 859 km route and 77 stations covered during FY 2021-22, the South Central Railway (SCR) has reported the highest-ever deployment of Kavach -- India's indigenous Automatic Train Protection system, in a financial year, officials said.

This is the best-ever performance by the railway zone in a financial year, since the commencement of the project.

Kavach is now deployed across 1,445 km route covering 135 stations across the South Central Railway Zone.

Arun Kumar Jain, General Manager (in-charge), SCR said in the next stages, the system will be extended to more sections, bringing a major part of the railway zone under the 'Kavach' network.

The SCR has been closely associated with its implementation since the development stage and is facilitating trials to achieve the objective of safety in train operations across Indian Railways.

Kavach is meant to provide protection by preventing trains to pass the Signal Passing at Danger i.e., Red (stop signal), and avoid collisions.

It activates the train breaking system automatically if the driver fails to control the train as per the speed restrictions. In addition, it prevents collision between two trains or locomotives, equipped with a functional Kavach system.