Railways explores direct leap to 5G to revive outdated train safety systems

Kavach tender expected in two months after the proposal is fine-tuned by the Indian Railways

As the Indian Railways builds indigenous anti-collision and emergency communication systems, the Union Minister for Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, has asked the Ministry of Railways officials to explore a direct leap to fifth-generation (5G) network to revive the outdated communications infrastructure of the Indian Railways, Business Standard has learnt.

The development comes at a time when the national transporter has barely scratched the surface on 4G operations. Vaishnaw is also the union minister for communications, electronics and information technology.

“Currently, Indian Railways is conducting a proof of concept for the working of Mission Critical Voice (MCV) and Kavach on 4G. Looking