Kavach 4.0: How Indian Railways is re-engineering train safety across its busiest routes

Indian Railways is expanding the deployment of Kavach 4.0, its indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system designed to assist loco pilots in maintaining prescribed speed limits and automatically apply brakes when necessary.
Kavach is a Safety Integrity Level-4 (SIL-4) certified technology. The initial field trials with passenger trains commenced in February 2016, and Kavach was officially recognized as the national ATP system in July 2020. Version 4.0 received approval from the Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO) on July 16, 2024.

Falling accidents, stronger safety systems

Data presented by the Ministry of Railways in the Lok Sabha Monsoon Session revealed that the number of consequential train accidents on Indian Railways decreased from 135 in 2014-15 to 16 in 2025-26, marking an 88% reduction, while the consequential accident index fell from 0.11 to 0.01, indicating a 91% decline. The government credits this progress to various safety initiatives, with Kavach being a key component of the overall strategy to reduce accidents. Additionally, the system has been effectively tested at speeds of 160 kmph on the Chipyana Buzurg-Tundla route using a Vande Bharat trainset.

Rising safety expenditure by Indian Railways

Indian Railways' spending and budget on safety-related activities has risen sharply, from ₹39,200 crore in 2013-14 to ₹1,20,389 crore in 2026-27 — an increase of about 207%. The broader safety push includes signalling, track infrastructure, level-crossing improvements, and the deployment of Kavach. The Railway Ministry's year-wise safety expenditure and budget are shown in the table below.

The infrastructure behind Kavach

The rollout requires substantial supporting infrastructure along the railway network. As of the latest government data:

More than 94,000 technicians, operators and engineers have also been trained in Kavach technology, including about 57,000 loco pilots and assistant loco pilots.

From manual intervention to automated protection

The expansion of Kavach represents a shift towards greater use of automated train-protection technology across India's high-density railway network. The system combines onboard equipment with trackside infrastructure such as RFID tags, telecom towers, optical fibre networks, and station Kavach installations.
With implementation work underway across a much larger network, the immediate focus is on scaling the technology across identified high-density and critical sections. The government has said that requisite funds for Kavach are being made available according to the progress of the works.