Central Railway Becomes First Zonal Railway to Complete KAVACH Loco Trials Across All Five Divisions.

In September 2025, Dharam Veer Meena, General Manager (GM) of Central Railway (CR), recently led the successful loco trials of KAVACH, an indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system, at Somatne, Apta, and Jite stations on the Panvel–Roha section of the Mumbai division. With this, CR became the first Zonal Railway to finish loco trials in all five divisions—Mumbai, Bhusawal, Nagpur, Pune, and Solapur—within six months of the award, advancing the nationwide rollout of KAVACH across its 4,000 km route network.

      - The Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system KAVACH is designed to improve railway safety by preventing collisions, including head-on and rear-end crashes, and by reducing Signal Passed at Danger (SPAD) incidents, thereby strengthening passenger and operational safety.

      - KAVACH includes advanced safety functionalities such as automatic braking when signals are missed, speed regulation in restricted zones, onboard display of signal aspects and speed limits, automatic whistling at level crossings, and an SOS distress function for emergencies.

      - Implementation involved rapid completion of detailed Radio and LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) surveys, followed by technical approvals, equipment supply, and installation at priority stations identified across each division.

Main Point :-   (i) For the rollout, three stations per division were chosen as priority hubs for KAVACH installations. Onboard fitment is ongoing at Bhusawal and Kalyan loco sheds in Maharashtra, as Indian Railways (IR) moves in mission mode to equip 730 locomotives in CR’s first implementation phase.

      (ii) Central Railway has set up network monitoring, testing, and training facilities across all its divisions. In addition, nearly 3,000 officers and staff members have been trained in KAVACH operations to ensure smooth deployment and integration.

(iii) Between September 4–19, 2025, CR inaugurated the integrated KAVACH Control Centre at Bhusawal, conducted initial loco trials in Solapur division, launched a simulation lab at Kurudwadi, and held station-level trials in Bhusawal, Pune, and Nagpur divisions, consolidating its leadership in adopting advanced train safety technology.