MoU between the Ministry of Railway and the University of Birmingham

Source: PIB

Ministry of Railways has signed MoU with the University of Birmingham for the establishment of Centre of Excellence for Next-Generation Transportation Systems

About the centre of excellence

• 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 organizations. 
• The centre would also invite partnerships from other industry and academic organizations as it develops in the future.
• This Centre will be involved in promoting the development of the Rail and Transportation sector in India which include
  1. Offering post-graduate, doctoral and post-doctoral programmes 
  2. Customized training programmes for in-service professionals
  3. Undertaking joint research projects in areas such as signalling communication, asset maintenance, traction and safety and 
  4. Developing benchmarks, standards, and certifications for specialized skills. 
• It will also be involved in organizing knowledge events, conferences, workshops to disseminate trends, latest research, global best practices and developments in the transportation sector, accessible to industry and academia.

Significance 

• The establishment of this centre is yet another step towards building our capacity in the transportation sector, which would prepare our youth for participating in the building and operation of national projects such as High-Speed Railways, modernizing 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.

About the National Rail Transport Institute

• The National Rail Transport Institute has been set up as a deemed to be university and has been operational since 2018. 
• In addition to Schools and Departments in various disciplines, NRTI aims to develop interdisciplinary Centres of Excellence which would be collaborative constructs to promote research and education to the transportation sector. 
• NRTI’s strategy is focussed upon sourcing the best expertise from around the world from leading global institutions through institutional partnerships for collaborating on developing curriculum, research projects, and executive education programs