UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — On Safer Tracks: How Kavach and AI Are Strengthening Railway Safety in India

Q1. How many firms were approved in 2018-19 for the supply of Kavach Version 3.2, following Independent Safety Assessor (ISA) certification?

  • A. Two
  • B. Three
  • C. Four
  • D. Five

Q2. Which one of the following organisations was the lead body that indigenously developed the Kavach system for Indian Railways?

  • A. Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS)
  • B. Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO)
  • C. Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL)
  • D. RITES Ltd

Q3. In the January 2026 rollout, what did the figure of '472.3 route km' precisely denote?

  • A. The length of new railway track physically laid during January 2026
  • B. The route length brought under Kavach 4.0 in January 2026 — the highest ever in a single month
  • C. The cumulative route length covered by Kavach 4.0 since it became the National ATP system
  • D. The total sanctioned Kavach works still pending execution across Indian Railways

Q4. Which one of the following constituted the single largest stretch, by route km, commissioned under Kavach 4.0 in January 2026?

  • A. Manpur–Sarmatanr (93.3 km)
  • B. Tughlakabad Junction Cabin–Palwal (35 km)
  • C. Vadodara–Virar (344 km)
  • D. Bajwa (Vadodara)–Ahmedabad

Q5. In the context of Kavach, what did RDSO approve on 16 July 2024?

  • A. Kavach Specification Version 4.0
  • B. The adoption of Kavach as the National ATP system
  • C. The first field trials of Kavach on passenger trains
  • D. The supply of Kavach Version 3.2 by three firms

Q6. Under the Memorandum of Understanding signed with DFCCIL in July 2025, which AI/ML-based inspection system did Indian Railways agree to induct?

  • A. Online Monitoring of Rolling Stock (OMRS)
  • B. Wheel Impact Load Detector (WILD)
  • C. Machine Vision based Inspection System (MVIS)
  • D. Kavach 5.0