Kavach Safety System Coming to Bobbili-Salur and Five Other Railway Sections

The Ministry of Railways has approved the installation of 'Kavach', India's indigenous Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system, on six strategic railway sections. Among them is the Bobbili–Salur line in North coastal Andhra Pradesh, marking a significant upgrade for the region's rail safety.

Kavach, which means 'shield' in Hindi, is designed to prevent accidents such as signal passing at danger (SPAD), over-speeding, and train collisions. It achieves this through continuous monitoring and automatic brake application when a potential hazard is detected. The system operates using an LTE-based communication backbone, which is being deployed across the Indian Railways network.

According to railway officials, the implementation of Kavach is expected to enhance safety for both passenger and freight operations. It is particularly beneficial in adverse weather conditions like dense fog, where visibility is low, thereby improving service punctuality and reliability.

Besides the Bobbili–Salur route, the project covers several other critical sections within the East Coast Railway zone: Baghuapal–Budhapank, Haridaspur–Paradeep, Khurda Road–Balangir, Naupada–Gunupur, and Lanjigarh Road–Junagarh. These sections were chosen due to their strategic importance and traffic density.

This initiative is part of the government's ongoing efforts to modernise railway signalling infrastructure and expand safety coverage across high-density and crucial routes. Kavach is a homegrown technology developed by the Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) in collaboration with Indian industry.

Previously, Kavach has been deployed on a few sections, including the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah corridors. The expansion to these six sections represents a continued commitment to improving rail safety across India's vast network.