Guwahati, Dec 29, 2024, IANS

Guwahati, Dec 29 (IANS) The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), which operates in the northeastern states and in seven districts of West Bengal and five districts of north Bihar, would soon integrate ‘Kavach 4.0’ to improve train operations, officials said here on Sunday. NFR Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Kapinjal Kishore Sharma said that a 1,966 route kilometre length from Malda town (in West Bengal) to Dibrugarh (in Assam) has been identified for implementation of Kavach. "NFR, being a part of the nation’s railway connectivity system, would be integrating this advanced technological system ‘Kavach 4.0’ soon, providing safer, more reliable, and efficient rail services within its jurisdiction," he said. The CPRO said that the Indian Railways is speeding up to deploy advanced Kavach 4.0 - automatic train protection system across its key routes. According to Sharma, the Kavach 4.0 is an enhanced comprehensive, technology-driven solution developed by Indian Railways to prevent accidents and ensure the smooth operation of trains, providing an additional layer of safety and control. All the locomotives where lower versions of Kavach were installed will be replaced with the upgraded Kavach 4.0, he said. The implementation of Kavach 4.0 by Indian Railways across its key routes is a broader initiative to modernise its infrastructure and improve safety standards. The NFR CPRO said that by leveraging technology such as Kavach 4.0, the connectivity system would ensure smoother operations, minimising human error, and most importantly, preventing accidents. The Kavach 4.0 system is built upon several critical technological components, including Station Kavach, which receives information from Loco Kavach and signalling systems to guide the locomotive and RFID tags, which are installed along the tracks at regular intervals and signal point to monitor the train’s location and direction. Over the past period, Indian Railways has been taking several steps to cut down train accidents. By rolling out Kavach 4.0, Indian Railways is committed to making rail travel even safer for passengers. This step is part of a larger plan to strengthen the railway network and boost safety measures across the rail network of the country, Sharma said. The system is capable of automatically applying brakes if the loco pilot fails to do so, as it displays real-time line-side signals in the driver’s cab, and provides continuous movement authority updates through radio-based communication, he pointed out. Other key features of the “Kavach 4.0” include automatic whistling at level crossing gates, direct locomotive-to-locomotive communication to prevent collisions, and an SOS function to alert authorities in case of emergencies.