ER to achieve 100% Kavach coverage in Bengal with Rs224cr nod
Times of India | 16 January 2026
Kolkata: Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday approved the installation of Kavach at key Eastern Railway stations. A railway spokesperson said, "Eastern Railway took a significant step towards strengthening rail safety with the approval of the indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system, Kavach, across a 443-km uncovered stretch on its network at an estimated cost of Rs 223.8 crore."
The safety net will cover important stretches such as: Howrah-Santragachi, Liluah-Belur Math, Tarakeswar-Goghat, Maynapur-Bishnupur, Rampurhat-Dumka, Azimganj-Murshidabad, Lakshmikantapur-Namkhana, Kankurgachi-Ballygunge, Kalyani-Kalyani Simanta, Krishnanagar Junction-Amghata, Krishnanagar City-Lalgola, Asansol-Burnpur, Barachak-Hirapur, and Bakhtarnagar-Andal.
The work formed part of a larger umbrella project titled "Provision of Kavach with communication backbone of Long-Term Evolution (LTE) on balance routes of Indian Railways (Umbrella Work 2024–25)", which was approved under the Works, Machinery & Rolling Stock Programme (Pink Book) 2024-25 at a total cost of Rs 27,693 crore. Out of this, Rs 896 crore was allocated for work on Eastern Railway stretches.
"With the completion of this work, the entire railway network of Eastern Railway within Bengal will be brought under the Kavach system. This will significantly enhance passenger safety by preventing train collisions and over-speeding," the ER official said.