Railways Ministry signs MoU with University of Birmingham for establishing Centre of Excellence

National Rail Transport Institute (NRTI) signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with University of Birmingham in Rail Bhawan, New Delhi to set up its first Centre of Excellence for Next Generation Transportation Systems. NRTI is a deemed to be university under Union Ministry of Railways.

Key Highlights

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

Function: The Centre would be involved in promoting development of Rail and Transportation sector in India. It includes offering post-graduate, doctoral and post-doctoral programmes, customized training programmes for in-service professionals, undertaking joint research projects in areas like asset maintenance, traction and safety, signalling, communication as well as developing benchmarks, standards and certifications for specialized skills. It will also be involved in organising knowledge events, conferences, workshops to disseminate trends, global best practices, latest research and developments in transportation sector, accessible to industry and academia.

Significance: Establishment of this centre is another step towards building India’s capacity in transportation sector, which would prepare country’s youth for participating in building and operation of national projects like modernizing Indian Railways Signalling Systems (IRSS), High-Speed Railways, rolling stock and operations.

About National Rail Transport Institute (NRTI)

It has been operational since 2018 and was set up as a deemed to be university. It aims to develop interdisciplinary Centres of Excellence which would be collaborative constructs to promote research and education to transportation sector. The strategy by NRTE is focussed upon sourcing best expertise globally from leading global institutions via institutional partnerships for collaborating on developing curriculum, research projects as well as executive education programs.

About University of Birmingham

It is home to Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE), which is the largest university-based centre for railway research and education in Europe. BCRRE is involved in developing world-leading new technologies alongside higher education programmes, Aerodynamics and International Benchmarking, research and innovations in Climate Change, Railway Control and Operations Simulation and Power Systems and Energy Use. University of Birmingham has more than 150 academics, researchers and professional services staff, delivering world-class research, education and leadership to global rail industry.

Month: Current Affairs - December, 2019