Indian Railways Clears ₹1,364 Crore Signalling And Safety Upgrade Plan Across Key Zones

Indian Railways has approved projects worth ₹1,364.45 crore to strengthen train safety, signalling and communication systems across multiple zones, with the latest package covering Kavach deployment, optical fibre communication expansion and electronic interlocking upgrades. The approved works span Southern Railway, Northern Railway, North Central Railway and South Central Railway, and form part of a broader push to modernise core rail operations with a sharper focus on safety and reliability.

A major component of the package is the installation of on-board Kavach Version 4.0 equipment on 232 locomotives in Southern Railway at a cost of ₹208.81 crore. The sanction falls under the umbrella programme for provision of Kavach with LTE-based communication backbone on balance routes of Indian Railways, included in the Works Programme 2024–25. PIB said Southern Railway has been earmarked a sub-umbrella allocation of ₹2,950 crore under this larger programme.

Railways has also sanctioned ₹400.86 crore for strengthening the communication backbone in Northern Railway through three separate works. These include laying 2×48 fibre cables over 926.05 route km in Ambala Division, 1,204 route km along with OFC rooms at stations in Delhi Division, and 1,074 route km in Lucknow Division. The upgrade is intended to improve the capacity and reliability of communication systems that support modern signalling and future Kavach deployment.

In North Central Railway, another ₹176.76 crore has been approved for provision of 2×48 fibre OFC cables over 2,196 route kilometres to support Kavach rollout. The project will cover 1,016 km in Prayagraj Division, 709 km in Jhansi Division and 471 km in Agra Division. According to the release, this work is aimed at improving communication infrastructure across high-density routes while enabling wider operational deployment of safety systems.

The largest share of the fresh approvals has gone to South Central Railway, where two works worth ₹578.02 crore have been sanctioned for replacing panel interlocking with electronic interlocking systems at 49 stations on high-density routes. Of these, 35 stations fall in Guntakal Division with an allocation of ₹426.82 crore, while 14 stations in Nanded Division will see upgrades worth ₹151.20 crore. The move is expected to reduce manual intervention, enhance signalling reliability and improve operational safety.

Taken together, the sanctioned projects reflect Indian Railways’ continued investment in safety-led infrastructure modernisation. By combining Kavach deployment with stronger communication backbone and signalling upgrades, the latest approvals are expected to improve operational efficiency, support higher network reliability and make train operations safer across some of the country’s busiest routes.

Source: PIB