What's CORAS? Elite rail commandos seen securing Vande Bharat in J&K

India's high-speed Srinagar to Jammu Vande Bharat Express has received a major upgrade. Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw flagged off the extended service from Jammu Tawi to Srinagar today, Thursday. However, visuals emerging from Jammu station have drawn attention for another reason. A video shared by the news agency PTI showed heavily armed commandos in black uniforms, tactical vests, and helmets guarding the train.

Notably, these personnel are not from well-known paramilitary forces like the CRPF, CISF, or NSG. Instead, they belong to the Commandos for Railway Security (CORAS), a specialised unit of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Railway Protection Special Force (RPSF), launched in August 2019 to safeguard railway assets and passengers.

The CORAS deployment was part of a multi-layered security cordon setup along the 327-km Jammu–Katra–Srinagar–Baramulla railway line, according to a report by PTI. Twenty-one security personnel, including CORAS commandos, will guard the Jammu–Srinagar Vande Bharat Express, an official told the news agency.

WHO ARE CORAS COMMANDOS WHO TRAINED WITH NSG, GREYHOUNDS?

The Commandos for Railway Security (CORAS) is a special wing of the Railway Protection Force (RPF). The force consists of volunteers from the RPF and is a highly specialised battalion drawn from the existing 14 battalions of the Railway Special Protection Force (RPSF). The RPSF is the armed wing of the RPF, established in 1962 to protect railway property, passengers and infrastructure.

The force, which was launched in 2019, is trained to protect trains and infrastructure in Naxal and insurgent-hit areas.

Speaking to PTI during the force's launch, Director General, Railways Protection Force (RPF), Arun Kumar, stated that CORAS units will be deployed on trains in Naxal-prone areas, Jammu and Kashmir and parts of North Eastern states like Tripura and Manipur.

Kumar stated that the personnel of CORAS would undergo training at the NSG Training Centre in Manesar, Haryana, as well as with the Greyhounds, a police special forces unit of the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Police which specialise in counter-insurgency operations against Naxalite-Maoist terrorists.

Their training programmes included basic and advanced commando courses with specialisation in handling landmines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), hostage rescue, sniping and breaching.

Then railway minister Piyush Goyal had stated during the force's launch that the first deployment of CORAS would be in Maoist-hit areas of Chhattisgarh.

STRUCTURE OF THE CORAS BATTALION

According to the RPF, the CORAS battalion, which was formerly the 9th battalion of the RPSF, comprises five companies (Coys) and one headquarters (HQ) company, created to operate in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) and Naxal-affected areas with the primary objective of safeguarding key railway infrastructure and construction projects.

The unit includes personnel across ranks, from Inspector General (IG) and Deputy Inspector General (DIG) to Assistant Commandants (AC), Inspectors (IPF), Sub-Inspectors (SI), Assistant Sub-Inspectors (ASI), Head Constables (HC), Constables (CT), and support staff. The sanctioned strength of the battalion is 716 personnel, while the present strength stands at 659.

In terms of deployment, CORAS-1 is stationed at Chakradharpur under South Eastern Railway (SER) with 113 personnel against a sanctioned 123.

CORAS-2 and CORAS-3 are deployed in the Waltair Division of East Coast Railway at Bacheli and Bhansi, with 114 and 117 personnel respectively. CORAS-4 operates from Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir with 116 personnel.

CORAS-5 is currently undergoing refresher training at the battalion headquarters in Jagadhri, where the CORAS HQ company is also located.

The deployment of CORAS commandos on the latest route in Jammu and Kashmir forms a critical layer in ensuring passenger safety and protecting railway infrastructure in a region long affected by security challenges.

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