Railways to float ₹5,000 crore tender for Kavach safety system

New Delhi: Indian Railways is set to issue a ₹5,000 crore mega tender to accelerate the adoption of the Kavach automatic train protection (ATP) technology across 10,000 km of its busy networks. 

This initiative is aimed at reducing accidents such as the one near Balasore in Odisha last year that left nearly 296 people dead and over 1,200 injured.

According to two people aware of the development, Indian Railways plans to release two separate tenders, each covering approximately 5,000 km, in the next few months, according to two persons aware of the development. 

This marks a significant increase from the first Kavach tender in 2021, which covered only 3,000 km.

The urgency to implement Kavach stems from the need to boost the safety and security apparatus of Indian Railways. The system is designed to prevent accidents caused by human error, such as failing to observe signals. Kavach detects obstructions ahead and stops the train, thereby preventing collisions and derailments.

“Tenders for commissioning Kavach on close to 10,000 km of Railway network is proposed to be initiated soon. The system, which has received a patent, has been approved for commissioning by additional vendors, including MNCs such as Japanese firm Kyosan. This will allow faster roll-out of the system,” Railway, IT and I&B minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told Mint on Saturday.

Phased rollout

A detailed project report (DPR) for implementing Kavach on 6,000 km is complete, with another for 4,000 km nearing completion. The goal is to issue tenders covering 9,500-10,000 km within the next few months, said one of the two persons quoted earlier.

India began developing its ATP system in 2012, with some progress made between 2014 and 2016. Kavach was tested from 2016 to 2019, and the first major tender was issued in 2021, covering 3,000 km for ₹1,000 crore. Approximately 1,500 km of the Indian Railways network is equipped with Kavach.

Indian Railways is also completing track-side work on 6,000 km to prepare for Kavach installation. This complex process involves creating data centers at stations, designing the system, and integrating it with existing signaling.

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“With new tenders, the plan is to add 7,000-8,000 of railway network under Kavach every year so that entire railway network of about 70,000 km gets this system in less than a decade,” said another person tracking the adoption of new ATP.

The system was previously manufactured only by three players -Medha Servo Drives, Kernex Microsystems, HBL Power Systems. Now MNCs such as Japanese Kyosan Electric Mfg, and G G Tronics India Pvt. Ltd have been finalised, while other vendors such as Germany’s Siemens AG and French transportation giant Alstom SA may also get permission to make Kavach in India.

Kavach, indigenously developed by the Research Design and Standards Organization (RDSO) in collaboration with Indian industry and tested by South Central Railway, is a state-of-the-art electronic system with safety integrity level-4 standards. 

It prevents trains from passing signals at danger (red) and avoids collisions by automatically activating the braking system if the driver fails to control the train according to speed restrictions.

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Indian Railways' safety investment over the past decade totals around ₹1.8 trillion, two-and-a-half times the amount spent from 2004 to 2014. This investment has focused on improving processes and introducing new technologies to enhance train safety.

The phased implementation plan prioritizes high-density routes and sections where trains run up to 160 kmph, followed by heavily used networks and other high-density passenger routes. The automatic block signaling system ensures that trains stop automatically if the operator fails to notice a signal, making Kavach particularly effective on busy routes with frequent train intervals.

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