The government has approved a project worth Rs 398.36 crore to install optical fibre cable spanning 1,929 route kilometres in the Ahmedabad and Ratlam divisions of Western Railway. This initiative aims to bolster the communication infrastructure essential for implementing the automatic train protection system Kavach, as per the Ministry of Railways. Specifically, the project entails laying 2×48 fibre optical fibre cable over 1,456 route kilometres in the Ahmedabad division and 473 route kilometres in the Ratlam division.
Under a larger umbrella project costing Rs 27,693 crore for the provision of Kavach with Long Term Evolution-based communication backbone throughout Indian Railways under the Works Programme 2024-25, this work has been sanctioned. Furthermore, a sub-umbrella project dedicated to Western Railway has been approved at Rs 2,800 crore, under which this specific project falls. The enhanced communication infrastructure is set to facilitate modern signalling systems, ensure smooth data transmission, and boost the capacity and reliability of railway operations in these two divisions.
Kavach, an automatic train protection system developed domestically by Indian Railways, is designed to avert collisions by automatically applying brakes in scenarios like missed signals or potential train collisions. The government has been expediting the deployment of Kavach across the railway network in response to a series of recent train accidents. Additionally, substantial funding amounting to over Rs 34,000 crore has been allocated in the past three years for passenger amenities, including investments in crowd management at stations to enhance travel convenience.
In the fiscal year 2023-24, Rs 9,392 crore was earmarked for improving passenger amenities, with a further allocation of Rs 12,884 crore in 2024-25 and Rs 12,018 crore in 2025-26, as disclosed by Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw during a parliamentary session. Notably, 23 permanent holding areas at crowded stations in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh out of the total 76 identified stations nationwide are presently under development.
