Railway Board Chairman and CEO Satish Kumar on Saturday, 19 September 2026, chaired a high-level review meeting to assess safety in train operations and key infrastructure works across Indian Railways' zonal network. General managers and principal heads of departments from all railway zones participated via video conference, making it one of the most comprehensive periodic safety reviews conducted at the national level.

Eastern Railway in focus

Eastern Railway (ER) General Manager Gitika Pandey attended alongside divisional railway managers and principal heads of departments, presenting the zone's safety performance status and the progress of safety-critical works. Pandey highlighted a clutch of major initiatives: strengthening the safety management framework, expanding CCTV surveillance, progressively eliminating and interlocking level crossing gates, and modernising signalling systems through the replacement and upgradation of mechanical lever frames and panel interlocking installations.

KAVACH Rollout on Delhi-Howrah Route

The review gave considerable attention to KAVACH, the indigenous Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system developed by Indian Railways. The latest iteration, Kavach 4.0, has been successfully deployed across 1,210 route km on the high-density Delhi-Howrah corridor, with work actively underway to cover the remaining stretches. The system is also being progressively inducted into locomotives.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Railways approved the installation of Kavach across 443 route km in West Bengal at an estimated cost of ₹223.83 crore. Several suburban sections in the state are being brought under this safety net, signalling a push to extend protection beyond inter-city trunk routes.

Infrastructure and Passenger Amenity Works

The meeting also covered infrastructure development and passenger amenity improvements over the ER network. Discussions included comprehensive track maintenance, progress on Road Over Bridges (ROBs) and Road Under Bridges (RUBs), and engineering measures to address waterlogging at identified subways and Limited Height Subways (LHSs). While appreciating ER's systematic approach to execution and monitoring, Kumar emphasised sustained attention to safety, timely project completion, and adoption of modern technology.

What Officials Said

'Safety remains the foremost priority in every aspect of railway operations. ER is continuously strengthening safety systems, accelerating technological upgrades such as KAVACH and modern signalling, and improving infrastructure to ensure safer, more reliable and passenger-friendly train operations,' said Shibram Majhi, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO), Eastern Railway.

Officials noted that these periodic review meetings by the Chairman and CEO of the Railway Board are designed to sharpen zonal efforts toward safer train operations, improved reliability, and better passenger services. Representatives from South Eastern Railway and Metro Railway also participated and presented the status of various projects in their respective jurisdictions.

The reviews are expected to continue at regular intervals, with the next meeting likely to track milestone completion on Kavach expansion and the ROB-RUB construction pipeline across zones.