First Train with Kavach System Flagged Off on Vadodara–Nagda Section

March 31, 2026 - In a continued effort to strengthen safety in train operations, Indian Railways has successfully commissioned the Kavach 4.0 system on the Vadodara–Nagda section on March 30, 2026. On this occasion, a special train equipped with the Kavach system was flagged off from Vadodara station.

This is part of Indian Railways commitment to building a safe, efficient and future-ready rail network by adopting modern and indigenous technologies.

With this, under Mission Raftaar, of the total 693 route kms on the Western Railway section of the Mumbai-New Delhi main route, Kavach has now been installed on 559.5 route kms — covering the majority of the route.

Under the Vadodara–Nagda section, the Kavach system has been successfully launched over a total of 224.51 route kms, including the Vadodara–Mangal Mahudi section (122.5 RKm) and the Panchpipaliya–Nagda section (102.01 RKm). Work is currently in progress to install the system between Mangal Mahudi and Panchpipaliya, which will soon be completed along with automatic signaling.

Earlier, in January 2026, the Vadodara Division had commissioned the Kavach system on the Vadodara–Virar section. With the latest development, the system has now been extended from Vadodara to Nagda via Godhra.

Kavach is a train protection system that acts as an additional safety layer to reduce the risk of human error. It helps prevent accidents caused by “Signal Passing at Danger” (SPAD), which occur owing to human mistakes.

For the implementation of this complex project on the Vadodara–Nagda section, separate plans were prepared for each station and each absolute/automatic signalling section. More than 6,000 RFID tags were programmed and installed along the tracks. Continuous radio communication was established between 26 stations, 13 intermediate sections and locomotives.

A total of 39 radio communication towers and related equipment were installed across stations. Additionally, approximately 600 km of optical fibre cable (OFC) was laid in both up and down directions across the entire route. Modern Kavach equipment was installed at every station, intermediate section and level crossing gate, and integrated with the existing signalling system. Locomotives were also equipped with Kavach devices, followed by successful trials and testing of the complete system.

Compared to its European counterparts such as ETCS, the Kavach system is significantly more cost-effective. Currently, it has been installed in locomotives like WAP-7, WAG-9 and WAP-5 and will soon be extended to other locomotives as well.

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