How Kavach System Is Being Built At Record Speed: Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw Breaks It Down

Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw detailed the rapid rollout of the Kavach safety system across Indian Railways, calling it one of the most complex infrastructure projects undertaken. Responding to questions on coverage compliance, he explained that Kavach is not a single device but an integrated network involving optical fibre cables along tracks, edge data centres at stations, trackside devices with RFID tags, onboard equipment on locomotives, and nearly 40,000 telecom towers spaced every 5–8 km based on terrain. After addressing gaps in Kavach 3.2, the upgraded Kavach 4.0 was approved in July 2024. With five vendors now onboard, implementation has accelerated significantly, with coverage expanding week by week.