Indian Railways recently commissioned 472.3 route kilometres of Kavach Version 4.0, marking the highest-ever deployment of the indigenous Automatic Train Protection system in a single day. The rollout covered the Vadodara–Virar section (344 km) on Western Railway, Tuglakabad Junction Cabin–Palwal (35 km) on Northern Railway, and Manpur–Sarmatanr (93.3 km) on East Central Railway.

This commissioning surpassed the earlier record of 324 route kilometres and expanded Kavach 4.0 coverage to over 1,300 route kilometres across five zones. Prior to this, the system had been operational on key stretches including Palwal–Mathura–Nagda, Howrah–Bardhaman and the Bajwa–Ahmedabad section in Gujarat.

On Northern Railway, Kavach 4.0 has been implemented on the high-density Tuglakabad–Palwal stretch of the Delhi–Mumbai corridor, significantly enhancing safety on a section carrying suburban, passenger and freight traffic. On East Central Railway, train operations with Kavach began on the Manpur–Sarmatanr section, where successful automatic braking during a head-on collision test validated system performance.

Western Railway achieved a milestone with commissioning on the 344 km Vadodara–Surat–Virar section of the Delhi–Mumbai route, with the Dadar–Bhuj Sayajinagri Express becoming the first Kavach-enabled train to operate from Mumbai. Work is progressing on adjoining sections, including Vadodara–Nagda and Virar–Mumbai Central, while locomotive fitment is also advancing steadily.

Kavach 4.0, approved by the Research Designs and Standards Organisation, integrates GPS, radio communication and onboard processing to prevent signal passing at danger, overspeeding and collisions. Certified to SIL-4 safety standards, the indigenously developed system supports safer operations on India’s high-density rail network and reduces reliance on imported technologies.