Trackside Kavach laid on 2,066 km out of 3,000 km on Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Howrah corridors, says Vaishnaw

New Delhi: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday said the Kavach installation work is in progress on Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah corridors (approximately 3,000 route km) and trackside works on these routes have been completed at about 2,066 route km.

Responding to concerns raised by All India Trinamool Congress MP Khalilur Rahaman on availability of funds for Kavach implementation, the minister said the funds utilized on Kavach works so far is Rs 1,950 crores.

“The allocation of funds during the year 2024-25 is Rs 1,112.57 crores. Further, provision of Rs 2,000 crores has been made for Kavach work during the year 2025-26. Requisite funds are made available as per the progress of works,” Vaishnaw said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

“The cost for provision of Track Side, including Station equipment of Kavach is approximately Rs 50 lakhs/km and cost for provision of Kavach equipment on locomotives is approximately Rs 80 lakh/loco,” he added.

Kavach aids the loco pilot in running of trains within specified speed limits by automatic application of brakes in case the loco pilot fails to do so and also helps the trains to run safely during inclement weather, the minister said.

Highlighting the key activities, Vaishnaw said the implementation of Kavach system involves the installation of Station Kavach at each and every station, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags throughout the track length, telecom towers throughout the section, Optical Fibre Cable along the track and loco kavach on each and every locomotive running on the Indian Railways.

He also gave the progress of Kavach installation up to February 2025 and said Optical Fibre Cable has been laid up to 5743 km, telecom towers have been installed at 540 locations, Station Kavach has been fitted at 664 places, 795 locomotives are ready with Loco Kavach and trackside equipment has been installed at 3,727 route km.