Rail safety numbers improve

Indian Railways says consequential train accidents fell to 31 in 2024-25 from 135 in 2014-15, a drop of about 77%. A February 2026 government explainer said the count fell further to 11 in 2025-26 up to November. (pib.gov.in, pib.gov.in) The same government material says accidents per million train kilometers fell from 0.11 in 2014-15 to 0.03 in 2024-25. That metric adjusts for how much the network is running, not just the raw accident count. (pib.gov.in) The main technology push is Kavach, an Indian automatic train protection system that works like a fail-safe layer for signals and speed limits. If a loco pilot misses a signal or exceeds the permitted speed, the system can apply brakes automatically. (pib.gov.in) Kavach was adopted as Indian Railways’ national train-protection system in July 2020 after passenger-train field trials began in February 2016. Version 4.0 was approved on July 16, 2024 after earlier deployment on 1,465 route kilometers in South Central Railway. (pib.gov.in, pib.gov.in) As of February 2025, the Railways said it had laid 5,743 kilometers of optical fiber cable for Kavach, installed the system at 664 stations and fitted 795 locomotives. It also said bids had been invited for about 15,000 route kilometers of trackside work and that 1,865 route kilometers had already been awarded. (pib.gov.in) By December 2025, the government said Kavach 4.0 had been commissioned on 738 route kilometers across the Palwal-Mathura-Nagda and Howrah-Bardhaman sections. A February 2026 explainer then put total Kavach coverage at more than 2,200 route kilometers, with Version 4.0 covering more than 1,300 route kilometers across five zones. (pib.gov.in, pib.gov.in) The safety push has also meant more spending. A February 2026 government explainer said safety expenditure rose from ₹39,200 crore in 2013-14 to ₹1,17,693 crore in 2025-26, after crossing ₹1 lakh crore in both 2023-24 and 2024-25. (pib.gov.in) For listed suppliers, the market angle is that railway modernization creates demand well beyond one flagship system. Concord Control Systems says it makes coach-related and railway-electrification products, and its investor materials say it supplies Indian Railways production units including Chittaranjan Locomotive Works and Integral Coach Factory. (concordgroup.in, bseindia.com) Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala and Integral Coach Factory in Chennai remain two of Indian Railways’ main coach-building units, which is why supplier links to those factories draw investor attention. The bigger test now is whether the Railways can turn pilot sections and awarded contracts into network-wide deployment at the pace officials have promised. (rcf.indianrailways.gov.in, icf.indianrailways.gov.in, pib.gov.in)