As many as 3,469 signal and telecom officers were trained on Kavach.
| Photo Credit: ARRANGEMENT
The Indian Railways Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunications (IRISET) is in the process of signing a pact with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to further technological exploration in ‘Kavach’, the indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system.
The premier training institute located in Secunderabad is also strengthening collaboration with key national institutions such as C‑DAC (Noida) to conduct training programmes on emerging technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Science, Big Data Analytics, Cloud Computing and Blockchain, to meet the evolving technological needs of Indian Railways, said IRISET director general Sharad Kumar Srivastava on Monday.
Addressing staff during the Republic Day celebrations, he said that training programmes on ‘Kavach’, as well as on electronic interlocking, automatic signalling, Asterisk‑based VoIP and cyber security continue to be the institute’s flagship programmes.
The Centre of Excellence (CoE) for ATP‑KAVACH has been spearheading innovations such as the Kavach-Electronic Interlocking interface, advancements in radio communication, standardisation of braking algorithms, virtual reality‑based “Start of Mission” simulations and the development of new vendors for RFID tags, readers and Kavach radios.
Special training programmes on Kavach fitment on locomotives and EMU/MEMU sheds along the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah routes were also introduced for officers and supervisors. As part of capacity building in railway signalling, the institute roped in 10 more universities last year, taking the total to 20. About 190 students from various engineering institutions, including MGIT Hyderabad, opted for railway signalling and Kavach as open electives, he said.
During the year, the institute conducted 303 training programmes, benefiting 8,206 trainees. As many as 3,469 signal and telecom officers were trained on Kavach — a 137.5% increase compared to the previous year — while another 1,062 chief loco inspectors were trained on the same platform. Faculty members also underwent advanced training at IIT-Madras, including programmes on 5G technologies.
Mr. Srivastava said cyber security awareness and preparedness received special emphasis during the year with focus on penetration testing, ethical hacking, network security and the use of free and open‑source tools in collaboration with C‑DAC (Hyderabad).
Published – January 26, 2026 07:58 pm IST
