Centre of Excellence to be established for next-generation transportation systems

By OEM Update Editorial January 9, 2020 2:22 pm IST

The National Rail Transport Institute (NRTI), a deemed-to-be-university under the Ministry of Railways, signed a MoU with the University of Birmingham in Rail Bhawan, New Delhi on 18th December 2019 to set up its first Centre of Excellence for next-generation transportation systems. The MoU was signed by Vinod Kumar Yadav, Chairman, Railway Board and Chancellor of NRTI, and Professor Clive Roberts, Head of the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE) at the University of Birmingham.

Indian Railways is a founding partner of this centre and would provide proprietary data, professional expertise, spare equipment and other available resources directly or through its Centralised Training Institutes and research organisations. The centre would also invite partnerships from other industry and academic organisations as it develops in the future.

Moreover, this centre will be involved in promoting the development of the rail and transportation sector in India, which includes offering post-graduate, doctoral and post-doctoral programmes, customised training programmes for in-service professionals, undertaking joint research projects in areas such as signalling, communication, asset maintenance, traction and safety, and developing benchmarks, standards and certifications for specialised skills. It will also be involved in organising knowledge events, conferences, and workshops to disseminate trends, latest research, global best practices and developments in the transportation sector, accessible to industry and academia.

The establishment of this centre is yet another step towards building India’s capacity in the transportation sector, which would prepare the youth for participating in building and operation of national projects such as high-speed railways, modernising Indian Railways signalling systems, rolling stock, and operations. Its pedagogy would nurture creativity and entrepreneurship among NRTI students, providing them an opportunity to become best-in-class professionals, influential leaders, nation-builders, and value-driven citizens.