Kavach installed on 2,000 km of rail network; rollout moving very fast, Vaishnaw tells Lok Sabha

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday (December 17, 2025) informed the Lok Sabha that the indigenous anti-collision system Kavach safety system has been fully commissioned on over 2,000 km of the rail network.

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In a reply during the Question Hour, Mr. Vaishnaw said that Kavach was a highly complex Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system comprising five major components, including continuous laying of optical fibre cable (OFC) along tracks and the installation of telecom towers.

The Minister said the Indian Railways has so far laid 7,129 km of OFC, installed 860 telecom towers, connected 767 stations to data centres, deployed trackside equipment along 3,413 km, and equipped 4,154 locomotives with the system. “Complete commissioning has crossed 2,000 km,” he said, adding that the pace of work was “very fast”.

The Minister also said around 40,000 technicians and operators have been trained, underlining that Kavach is a “totally new and very complex” system.

Also Read | Kavach on fast track: 40,000 personnel trained, Version 4.0 commissioned, says Minister

On rail accidents

Responding to a supplementary by DMK MP Kalanidhi Veeraswamy on rail accidents, Mr. Vaishnaw said consequential accidents have fallen by nearly 90 per cent — from 135 in 2014 to 11 now.

In response to another supplementary question, the Railway Minister said redeveloping railway stations without disrupting train services is a “complex task”, but halting rail traffic is not a viable option in India.

He noted that several countries suspend rail operations for three to four years during station redevelopment. “In India, where 7.5 crore passengers travel by train, this is simply not possible,” Mr. Vaishnaw said.

He said stations are being upgraded under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, which adopts a long-term, phased approach based on master plans. So far, 1,337 stations have been identified under the scheme, and redevelopment work at 155 stations has already been completed, according to an official statement issued earlier this month.