INDIA: Indian Railways has commissioned Kavach Version 4.0 across 2,633 route kilometres on the Delhi–Mumbai and Delhi–Howrah corridors, while trackside deployment continues across 21,794 route kilometres nationwide.

Indian Railways locomotive cab during Kavach commissioning on the Prayagraj–Kanpur section
Indian Railways locomotive cab during Kavach commissioning activity on the Prayagraj–Kanpur section. Illustrative photo. Photo: Ministry of Railways / Press Information Bureau.

The July 31, 2026 total marks a further expansion of India’s indigenous Automatic Train Protection system. Kavach can automatically apply brakes when a locomotive pilot does not keep within prescribed speed limits and is designed to support safer operation in adverse weather.

Indian Railways says the current rollout extends beyond the commissioned corridors. It has laid 11,547 km of optical fibre cable, installed 1,721 telecom towers, commissioned Station Data Centres at 1,009 stations and completed trackside equipment on 7,726 route km. Kavach has also been fitted to 6,290 locomotives, with work underway on another 7,190 locomotives and 1,200 EMU/MEMU coaches.

Where Kavach 4.0 is already commissioned?

The latest supplied total does not provide a section-by-section split for all 2,633 route km. However, a Ministry of Railways update using data as of July 13 recorded 2,490 commissioned route km: 1,344 km on Delhi–Mumbai and 1,146 km on Delhi–Howrah.

On Delhi–Mumbai, that official breakdown included 1,248 route km from Tilak Bridge through Palwal, Mathura and Nagda to Vadodara and Virar, excluding the Mangal Mahudi–Panchpipliya gap, plus 96 km between Vadodara and Ahmedabad.

On Delhi–Howrah, it listed 563 km from Chipyana through Tundla and Kanpur to Subedarganj, 71 km on Kanpur–Lucknow, 50 km on DDU (FOC)–Bhabua Road, 43 km on Sasaram–Pheser, 159 km on Gaya–Sarmatanr–Nimiaghat and 260 km on Chota Ambana–Bardhaman–Howrah.

The July 31 figure is 143 route km higher than that July 13 official breakdown, but the supplied update does not identify the additional sections individually.

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Rollout remains phased rather than tied to one deadline

Indian Railways describes Kavach deployment as a phased programme, and the official material reviewed does not set a single completion date for the full 21,794 route km where trackside work is now underway.

Individual corridor stages are still being identified. In March, the ministry commissioned Kavach on 190 route km of the Prayagraj–Kanpur section and said Ghaziabad–Tundla would follow in the next phase for 160 km/h operations under Mission Raftaar.

On the Delhi–Mumbai corridor, a March Western Railway commissioning update reported Kavach Version 4.0 on the Vadodara–Nagda section while work continued on the remaining Mangal Mahudi–Panchpipliya stretch.

Indian Railways has spent ₹3,875 crore on Kavach implementation through June 2026 and allocated ₹2,066 crore for the programme in FY2026–27. The current figures show that commissioning is advancing, but a much larger trackside programme still has to move through installation, testing and commissioning before it becomes operational Kavach territory.

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