Indian Railways approves Rs.1,200 crore projects

New Delhi, Mar 26, 2026 : The Railways has approved projects worth over 1,200 crore rupees to upgrade its communication infrastructure and expand the Kavach automatic train protection system across multiple zones. The Railway Ministry said the projects aim to strengthen the railway network through advanced fibre communication systems and enhanced safety mechanisms. The Ministry said two major projects have been approved to establish a robust dual-fibre communication network across all five divisions of Central Railway at a cost of more than 600 crore rupees. It said optical fibre and overhead ground wire systems will be deployed to create a reliable, dual-path communication backbone, ensuring uninterrupted operations and enabling additional revenue generation through the leasing of fibre capacity.

Referring to safety measures, the Ministry said Kavach 4.0, the indigenously developed collision avoidance system, will be deployed on 548 kilometres of high-traffic routes across Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka at a cost of over three hundred crore rupees. It said the system is designed to prevent train collisions by automatically applying brakes in critical situations and will enhance operational safety on busy corridors.

The Ministry said an optical fibre communication network will also be completed across Rajkot and Bhavnagar divisions in Gujarat at a cost of over three hundred crore rupees. It added that these initiatives will strengthen the communication backbone required for modern train control systems and support the wider rollout of Kavach, contributing to improved safety, efficiency and future-ready railway operations in the country.