₹381 crore railway projects target Kavach safety, loco capacity

Indian Railways has approved two projects worth a combined ₹381 crore, one to install the Kavach safety system on 680 route kilometres and another to add maintenance capacity for electric locomotives at Raipur, the Ministry of Railways said.

The larger project, costing ₹206 crore, will deploy Kavach Version 4.0 on the Rewari-Delhi and Shakurbasti-Bathinda sections under the Delhi Division of Northern Railway, including feeder branch lines.

“Kavach is India’s indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system designed to significantly enhance railway safety by preventing Signal Passed at Danger (SPAD) incidents and train collisions,” the ministry said in a statement.

The deployment covers high-density and strategically important routes as part of a nationwide rollout, the ministry added.

The second project, approved at ₹175 crore, will create additional homing facilities for 250 three-phase electric locomotives at the High Horse Power Diesel Shed in Raipur under South East Central Railway. The ministry said the facilities will support the growing electric locomotive fleet and rising freight and passenger traffic. The shed currently services diesel locomotives; the upgrade will allow the depot to handle more electric units and make room for future technology, the ministry said.

No timeline for completion was provided. The two projects are part of the ministry’s capital expenditure plan for the current fiscal year. Indian Railways has a capital expenditure target of ₹2.62 lakh crore for the current fiscal year, according to budget documents.