The government has floated tenders for the Kavach anti-collision system on the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah corridors for approximately 3,000 route km, the Parliament was informed on Friday.
In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said: “Tenders for Kavach awarded for Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah corridors for approximately 3,000 rkm and work is in progress on these routes.”
He said that the railways is also preparing DPRs and detailed estimate for another 6,000 rkm.
He also said that the Kavach has so far been deployed on 1,465 rkm and 121 locomotives, including electric multiple unit rakes on South Central Railway.
The Minister said that amount spent so far on Kavach implementation is Rs.351.91 crore.
“The cost for provision of track side including station equipment of Kavach is approximately Rs 50 lakh/km and cost for provision of Kavach equipment on loco is approximately Rs 70 lakh per loco. Presently there are three Indian OEMs who are approved for Kavach. Efforts are being made to develop more vendors to enhance the capacity and scale up the implementation of Kavach,” Vaishnaw said.
Kavach is indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system. This technology intensive system, which requires safety certification of highest order, aids the loco pilot in train running within specified speed limits by automatic application of brakes in case loco pilot fails to do so and also help the train safely run during inclement weather.
The first field trials on the passenger trains were started in February 2016 and based on the experience so gained and Independent Safety Assessment of the system by a third party (Independent Safety Assessor: ISA), three firms were approved in 2018-19, for supply of Kavach.
Subsequently Kavach was adopted as a National ATP system in July 2020.
