Indian Railways is allocating Rs 170 crore to install the Kavach 4.0 automatic train protection system across the Moradabad Division of Northern Railway. The project covers 712 route kilometres and is aimed at improving safety on busy railway routes.
The investment is part of a wider national programme to expand automatic train protection technology across the railway network. Kavach is designed to reduce the risk of accidents caused by human error and provide an additional layer of safety for train operations.
Kavach Across Moradabad
Ministry of Railways has approved Rs 170 crore allocation for Moradabad Division. The system will cover key routes within division and is expected to improve safety by automatically responding to dangerous operating situations.
Kavach 4.0 is an indigenous train protection system. It can automatically apply brakes when a train passes a signal at danger, known as SPAD, and is designed to help prevent collisions when another train is detected on the same track.
Moradabad project forms part of a much larger Kavach rollout across India. By July 31, 2026, the system is operational across 2,633 route kilometres, including sections of major corridors such as Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah.
Indian Railways is continuing to expand the technology to cover thousands of kilometres. The aim is to create a safer railway network by combining automatic protection with existing signalling and operating systems.
Railway Kavach System
The Railway Kavach System is important because it provides an automatic safety layer when a train is travelling in a potentially dangerous situation. It can help control train speed and apply brakes when required, reducing dependence on immediate human intervention.
The technology is particularly relevant on high-traffic routes, where multiple trains operate across large networks. By providing automatic protection against certain signalling and collision risks, Kavach supports the broader effort to modernise railway safety infrastructure.
Rs 170 crore Moradabad allocation is part of a significantly larger railway investment programme. Indian Railways has received a capital budget of Rs 2,93,030 crore for the 2026-27 financial year.
By July 2026, the department had spent Rs 1,14,973 crore. Continued spending on railway infrastructure is supporting demand across several areas, including signalling equipment, telecom systems, optical fibre cables and other railway technology.
Rollout Faces Challenges
Installing Kavach across the railway network involves more than placing equipment inside locomotives. Trackside systems, telecom towers and optical fibre networks also need to be installed and integrated with existing railway infrastructure.
Work is currently progressing across 21,794 route kilometres. Indian Railways also needs to retrofit more than 6,200 existing locomotives with Kavach technology, making the programme a large and complex operational exercise.
