South Western Railway (SWR) has conducted field trial of standard Kavach on 98 route km (rkm) of Tumakuru-Arsikere section under the Bengaluru division on June 30, 2026. Following this, trials were also conducted on two key sections of Whitefield-Jolarpettai (122 rkm) stretch which includes Malur-Devanakaunti block section (8 rkm) and Mulanur-Kuppam block section (12 rkm) on July 1, 2026 and July 4, 2026, respectively.
Besides, SWR is also planning for standard Kavach field trials on Yelahanka-Dharmavaram (159 rkm) and Bengaluru-Mysuru (137 rkm) sections by July 2026 and on Bengaluru-Dharmapuri (163 rkm) section by August 2026.
Meanwhile, SWR has planned phase-wise Kavach coverage of total 3,692 rkm.
Under phase-I, high density and critical sections of 1,568 rkm will be covered. This includes 790 rkm in Hubballi and Mysusru division with investment of Rs 2.61 billion and 778 rkm of Bengaluru and Mysuru at a cost of Rs 2.53 billion. The sections include Hubballi–Ballari, Haveri–Hubballi–Londa, Londa–Miraj, Haveri–Arsikere, Arsikere–Yeshwantpur, Baiyappanahalli–Dharmavaram, Bengaluru–Jolarpettai, Bengaluru–Mysuru, and Bengaluru–Yeshwantpur–Dharmapuri.
Under phase-II, 2,124 rkm of routes will be covered. This includes 456 rkm of Bengaluru division at a cost of Rs 2.7 billion, including Penukonda–Dharmavaram, Omlur–Dharmapuri and Yelahanka–Bangarapet sections. Furthermore, remaining work will be carried on 862 rkm in Hubballi division at Rs 4.59 billion and 806 rkm in Mysuru division at Rs 4.36 billion.