Indian Railways has utilised Rs 1,14,973 crore, or nearly 39% of its total budget allocation of Rs 2,93,030 crore, during the first four months of the 2026-27 financial year, according to data released by the Ministry of Railways.
The ministry said safety continues to be its top priority, with spending on safety-related activities witnessing a sharp rise over the years. The allocation for safety has increased from Rs 39,200 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 1,20,389 crore in 2026-27. The government said sustained investments in safety infrastructure have contributed to a significant reduction in railway accidents.
Kavach deployment gains momentum
Indian Railways also highlighted the progress of Kavach, the indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system designed to prevent collisions and improve operational safety.
Kavach assists loco pilots by automatically applying brakes if they fail to act within the prescribed speed limits. It also enables safer train operations during adverse weather conditions. The system was first tested on passenger trains in 2016 and was adopted as the national ATP system in July 2020.
Following the deployment of Kavach Version 3.2 on South Central Railway, the system underwent further upgrades. Kavach Version 4.0, approved by the Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) in July 2024, offers improved location accuracy, better signalling information in large railway yards, station-to-station communication through optical fibre and direct integration with electronic interlocking systems.
As of July 31, 2026, Kavach Version 4.0 has been commissioned on 2,633 route kilometres across the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah corridors. This includes nearly 470 route kilometres commissioned earlier this year.
The ministry said work on trackside Kavach infrastructure is currently underway across 21,794 route kilometres covering the Golden Quadrilateral, Golden Diagonal, High Density Network and other identified routes.
So far, Indian Railways has laid 11,547 km of optical fibre cable, installed 1,721 telecom towers, commissioned Station Data Centres at 1,009 stations, completed trackside equipment on 7,726 route km and equipped 6,290 locomotives with Kavach. Work is also in progress to install the system on another 7,190 locomotives and 1,200 EMU/MEMU coaches.
The ministry added that Kavach trials at 160 kmph have been successfully conducted with a Vande Bharat trainset on the Chipyana Buzurg-Tundla section of the Delhi-Howrah route.
According to the data, Rs 3,875 crore has been spent on Kavach implementation till June 2026, while Rs 2,066 crore has been allocated for the project during the current financial year.
Track upgrades boost speed, capacity
The ministry said increasing train speeds remains an ongoing process that depends on the modernisation of tracks, signalling systems, overhead equipment, locomotives and coaches.
Over the past 12 years, Indian Railways has upgraded tracks using 60-kg rails, wider-base concrete sleepers, thick-web switches, longer welded rail panels and advanced track maintenance machines.
As a result, the proportion of railway tracks capable of supporting speeds of 130 kmph and above has increased from 6.3% in 2014 to 22.5% in 2026. Overall, around 81% of the network can now support speeds of 110 kmph or more.
The New Delhi-Mumbai and New Delhi-Howrah corridors are also being upgraded under Mission Raftaar to support train operations at speeds of up to 160 kmph.
On the infrastructure front, Indian Railways commissioned 36,429 km of new railway lines between 2014 and 2026, almost doubling the average pace of track commissioning to 8.32 km per day compared with 4.2 km per day during 2009-14.
As of April 1, 2026, Indian Railways had 514 sanctioned infrastructure projects—including new lines, gauge conversion and doubling works—covering around 40,000 km at an estimated cost of Rs 8.31 lakh crore. Of these, 12,583 km has been commissioned, with cumulative expenditure crossing Rs 3.05 lakh crore till March 2026.