Kolkata: Eastern Railway has commissioned the indigenous automatic train protection system Kavach Version 4.0 across the 260 km Howrah–Burdwan–Chotaambana section of the Howrah–New Delhi high-density route, officials said on Sunday.
The section, under the Howrah and Asansol divisions, is a key part of the corridor linking eastern India with the national capital. The commissioning was completed on Sunday with the Burdwan–Chotaambana stretch, following the earlier operationalisation of the Howrah–Burdwan line via the HBC (Howrah–Burdwan Chord) route. Kavach, developed by the Research Designs and Standards Organisation, is India’s indigenous Automatic Train Protection system designed to prevent train accidents. The system automatically applies brakes if a locomotive pilot passes a signal at danger and provides in-cab signalling during high-speed operations or low visibility conditions such as fog.
The project began in July 2022 as part of a plan to enable train operations at speeds of up to 160 kmph on high-density routes. The installation covers 229 route km in West Bengal and 31 route km in Jharkhand and includes 47 stations and 13 level crossing gates.
As part of the system, 7,897 RFID tags have been installed on track sleepers to track train movement. Sixty lattice towers with UHF antennas provide radio communication, while a 520 km optical fibre cable network forms the communication backbone.
A total of 118 electric locomotives, including WAP5 and WAP7 engines from the Howrah and Sealdah sheds, and one EMU rake have been equipped with Kavach devices.
Railway officials said the system continuously monitors train movement, supervises speed and prevents head-on or rear-end collisions. It also protects against roll-down or roll-forward incidents and includes an SOS feature that allows station masters or locomotive pilots to alert nearby trains during emergencies. Eastern Railway has also set up centralised Kavach network monitoring systems at divisional headquarters and a lab simulator in Asansol for crew training.