The indigenous system was implemented using the Kanpur Shatabdi Express. With this commissioning, North Central Railway’s total Kavach 4.0 coverage has expanded to 445 route kilometres.
The system on this section is manufactured by Kernex, which received official generic approval for Kavach Version 4.0 to support 160 km/h operations. Deployment involved installing 22 stationary Kavach units and nine level crossing units, along with equipping ten WAP-7 locomotives with the technology.
A technical milestone was achieved by integrating Kavach with Hitachi Electronic Interlocking systems through protocol converters, enabling seamless coordination between track and signalling infrastructure for the first time.
Kavach 4.0 was approved in May 2025 for speeds up to 160 km/h and has been deployed on multiple high-density corridors including Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah.
The system operates using RFID tags installed at every kilometre along the tracks, facilitating continuous communication with locomotive equipment and station controllers via telecom towers and optical fibre networks. Kavach is designed to prevent train collisions by automatically controlling speed and braking if the locomotive pilot fails to respond appropriately.
Additionally, North Central Railway has completed the installation of towers, optical fibre cables, and Kavach equipment along 751 route kilometres from Chipiyana Buzurg to Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyay station. This infrastructure supports 160 km/h train operations on the Delhi-Howrah corridor.
