Railways Clears Kavach 4.0, Barbil Doubling and New AP Train

The correct answer is North Eastern Railway. The Varanasi division, abbreviated BSB, belongs to this zone, and the sanction of 223 crore rupees extends Kavach 4.0 across the balance sections of that division, a total of 614.75 route kilometres. Option A is wrong because Northern Railway is a separate zone and the division named in this approval does not sit under it. Option C is wrong because North Central Railway, although it operates in the same broad region of the country, is not the zone to which the Varanasi division reports. Option D is wrong for the same reason: East Central Railway is headquartered elsewhere and the approval does not concern it. Kavach itself is an Automatic Train Protection system developed within the country, and its job is to stop a train from passing a signal at danger and to apply the brakes when the driver does not.

The correct answer is the Energy, Mineral and Cement Corridor, under which Indian Railways has identified this section. The stretch is only 6 km long but it carries high-grade iron ore and pellets from the Bolani mines of SAIL and from private sidings towards steel plants and ports, and the doubling has been cleared at a completion cost of 122 crore rupees. Option B is wrong because the Golden Quadrilateral is a highway network connecting the four large metropolitan cities and is not the frame used for this railway project. Option C is wrong because the dedicated freight corridors are separate purpose-built lines and this approval is a doubling of an existing single-line section, not a new corridor. Option D is wrong because no such corridor is named in the approval. After commissioning, the doubling is expected to move an additional 8.9 MTPA of freight and to reduce delays to goods trains.

The correct answer is 499 km. The new service runs between Machilipatnam and Kurnool City by way of Vijayawada on South Coast Railway, and that is the distance the train covers between the two ends. Option A is wrong because the run is longer than that; the train crosses from the coastal belt of Andhra Pradesh into the interior of the state and picks up a dozen stops on the way. Option B is wrong for the same reason, and no such figure attaches to this route. Option D is wrong because the distance has not been stretched that far. It is worth remembering the stopping pattern too: Gudivada, Vijayawada, Narasaraopet, Vinukonda, Donakonda, Markapur Road, Cumbum, Giddalur, Diguvametta, Nandyal, Betamcherla and Dhone. The outward service runs on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday and the return service on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.