As many as 3,469 signal and telecommunications officers were trained at Kavach. | Photo credit: ARRANGEMENT
The Indian Railway Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunications (IRISET) is in the process of signing a pact with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for further technological exploration in ‘Kavach’, an indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system.
The premier Secunderabad-based training institute is also strengthening collaboration with key national institutions like C-DAC (Noida) to conduct training programs on emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), data science, big data analytics, cloud computing and blockchain, to meet the evolving technology needs of the Indian Railways, IRISET CEO Sharad Kumar Srivastava said on Monday.
Addressing the staff during the Republic Day celebrations, he said that the core programs of the institute continue to be training programs on ‘Kavach’ as well as electronic construction, automatic signaling, Asterisk-based VoIP and cyber security.
The Center of Excellence (CoE) for ATP‑KAVACH is pioneering innovations such as the Kavach-Electronic Interlocking interface, advances in radio communication, standardization of braking algorithms, virtual reality-based “Start of Mission” simulations, and the development of new vendors of Kavach RFID tags, readers and radios.
Special training programs on Kavach equipment on locomotives and EMU/MEMU sheds on Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah routes have also been 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 signaling and Kavach as open electives, he said.
During the year, the institute conducted 303 training programs, benefiting 8,206 trainees. As many as 3,469 signal and telecommunications officers were trained on Kavach – a 137.5% increase on the previous year – and a further 1,062 Chief Locomotive Inspectors were trained on the same platform. Faculty members have also undergone advanced training at IIT-Madras, including programs on 5G technologies.
Mr. Srivastava said cyber security awareness and preparedness was given special emphasis during the year with a focus on penetration testing, ethical hacking, network security and use of free and open-source tools in collaboration with C-DAC (Hyderabad).
Published – 26 Jan 2026 19:58 IST
