Indian Railways has floated tenders worth over ₹2,200 crore for Kavach, the indigenous automatic train protection system, across multiple States including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh, and covering nearly 7,228 route km (rkm).
Tenders include various components for Kavach such as towers, optical fibres, dashboards, alongside contracting system integrators.
Components
The Kavach train collision avoidance system (TCAS) has three-to-four main components: radio frequency identification (RFID) technology – integrated into the tracks and wireless devices; RFID readers - equipped in the driver’s cabin (locomotive); radio infrastructure – that includes towers and modems at railway stations; and, cabin instrument panels that display signals and speed limits.
The protection system alerts the pilot to red signals and applies automatic brakes if necessary. It also provides an onboard display of signal aspects to enable safer operation in adverse visibility.
According to documents seen by businessline, most of tenders floated have a deadline between September and November. Tenders have a value of over ₹100 crore, with some as high as ₹340 crore.
This apart, work is already on for installation of Kavach across 3,000 rkm, officials said.
“Tenders for installation of Kavach, including various components and for system integrators have already been floated. This phase will cover close to 7,228 rkm along high density routes, apart from 3,000 rkm where work is underway,” a senior Railways official said.
The total coverage of Indian Railways is to the tune of over 68,000 rkm; and Kavach coverage of that is to tune of 1,465 rkm.
The collision avoidance system will also be installed on 10,000 locomotives, work for which is already underway.
As per Tender Detail, a website that lists various government tenders, in 2024, there are 635 Kavach tenders which have been published by various tendering authorities and private companies.
Some of the open tenders that have been floated pertain to supply and installation, testing and commissioning of Kavach on 668 rkm (including associated works) on Kharagpur–Chakradharpur division of South Eastern Railway (SER) valued at nearly ₹200 crore.
Another such open tender includes setting up of Kavach, along with tower and fibre optic cable installation as backbone network in Dholpur–Bina section in Jhansi of the North Central Railway, valued at ₹207 crore.
“The next phase of Kavach tenders will be floated in October covering less than 2,000 rkm. Our plan was to float 9,000 rkm of Kavach installation tenders within this year. And we are on track. Installation time is about 12–18 months,” the official said.