Kavach, the indigenously developed automatic train protection system was deployed by the Indian Railways, on barely 20 route km (RKM) in 2022-23.

This was informed by the Union Railway Ministry in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on Monday (31 August).

The public transporter has deployed this system on 1,465 RKM and 121 locomotives on the Southern Central Railway in the past five years.

In response to a question from the Congress Party president Mallikarjun Kharge on the details of total RKM covered under the Kavach system in past five years, the Railway Ministry said while 250 RKM of railway network was covered in 2018-19, the next year another 15 RKM was brought under its coverage.

The Kavach deployment was 321 RKM in 2020-21 and 859 RKM during 2021-22.

"Further, Kavach tenders have been awarded for Delhi–Mumbai and Delhi–Howrah high-density network corridors (approximately 3,000 RKM) and work is in progress on these routes. Indian Railways is preparing the detailed project report and detailed estimate for another 6,000 RKM,” the Ministry said on the plans to cover all routes, especially high-density routes.

The national transporter said the first proof-of-concept of the train collision avoidance system (TCAS) was done in 2012, in which the basic concept and functionalities were demonstrated.

"The TCAS was adopted as national automatic train protection system in July, 2020 and subsequently it was renamed as Kavach, for which notification was issued in September 2021,” the ministry said.

Kavach aids the loco pilot in trains running within specified speed limits by automatic application of brakes, in case the loco pilot fails to do so and also helps the train safely run during inclement weather.