Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai
Mumbai, Jan 30: The Mumbai suburban system of Western Railway on Friday became one of the first sections of Indian Railways to receive the ‘Kavach’ safety cover with the commissioning of the Virar to Vadodara section.
The Virar to Dahanu stretch falls under the Mumbai suburban section. The project is part of the larger Nagda-Vadodara-Surat-Virar-Mumbai Central corridor, which has been sanctioned at a cost of Rs 397 crore.
Officials from Western Railway said the installation work is being carried out at a rapid pace, and ‘Kavach’ has been commissioned on the Virar-Vadodara section. Train No. 20907 Dadar-Bhuj Sayaji Nagri Express will be the first train to operate with the Kavach system from Mumbai, departing from Dadar.
‘Kavach’ is an indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system designed to prevent accidents by automatically applying brakes if the loco pilot fails to act in time. Adopted as a national system, it enhances safety through collision avoidance, speed control and emergency SOS messaging.
The system adds an extra layer of train safety by reducing risks caused by human error and strengthening operational safety through automated features.
Key features of ‘Kavach’ include prevention of signal passing at danger due to human error, prevention of over-speeding, collision prevention (head-on and rear-end), auto whistling at level crossing gates, and repeating signal aspects inside the cab to reduce the impact of poor visibility during adverse weather or fog.
Western Railway said the execution of Kavach on this corridor involved advanced engineering and digital integration. The work included custom safety schemes for each station and signalling section, installation and programming of over 8,000 RFID tags on tracks, setting up continuous radio communication through 57 radio towers, laying optical fibre cables along the entire route, installing Kavach equipment at stations and level crossing gates, developing dedicated operational software, integrating it with existing signalling systems, fitting Kavach systems in locomotives, and conducting extensive trials and safety testing.
Giving an update on the remaining work, Western Railway said work is progressing in full swing on the Vadodara-Nagda section and is expected to be commissioned by March 2026.
It added that Kavach installation on locomotives is also progressing steadily, with 364 locomotives on Western Railway equipped with the system so far.
The authorities also said that installation of Kavach on 2,476 route kilometres has been proposed for sanction.