The development comes close on the heels of several instances when locomotive pilots have spotted harmful objects on railway tracks.

Notably, the NIA is a Central Counter-Terrorism Law Enforcement Agency in India. The involvement of NIA in train sabotage attempts shows that the Railways is also exploring terror angle. Speaking to the media in Jaipur on Tuesday (24 September), Vaishnaw emphasised that the railway administration is on high alert and taking these threats seriously.

Ashwini Vaishnaw interacted with reporters in Rajasthan’s Sawai Madhopur after reviewing ‘Kavach 4.0’, the latest iteration of an automated system to avoid train collisions and ensure railway safety.

The Railway Ministry has been working on this project for the last eight years to bring the rail network under the Kavach system in a phased manner.

In response to a recent stone-pelting incident involving the Mahabodhi Express near Mirzapur station, where a stone struck the guard's brake van, Vaishnaw reassured that no injuries were reported, and railway officials promptly addressed the situation.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday travelled in Kavach-fitted train for a trial to check the efficiency of the automatic train protection system at Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan. The Minister boarded the Kavach-fitted engine of a train at 4 pm at the Sawai Madhopur railway station and travelled for 45 minutes up to Indargarh Railway station.

Key focus will be to evaluate whether the system can autonomously bring the train to a halt at red signals without any intervention from the locomotive pilot.