Indian Railways on Tuesday signed Memorandum of Understanding with IIT Kanpur, IIT Madras and IIT Roorkee to set up Centres of Railway Research.
With IIT Kanpur, the focused areas of research are -- geo-tech engineering, advanced fuel-efficient systems, alternate engine propulsion technologies, fire safety management, wireless networking systems, advanced electronics, high-speed track and rolling stock design, operational efficiency measures, cyber security of railway communication systems, material development and processing, among others. With IIT Madras, the focused research areas are: structural health monitoring of railway infrastructure (rails, bridges, engines, wagons/coaches, electrical stations) using embedded intelligence. Areas such as energy management, intelligent transportation, computer vision and imaging technologies, advanced materials and advanced joining technologies. Other areas include non-destructing testing and evaluation, apart from disaster management.
The tie-up with IIT Roorkee will focus on civil infrastructure of high speed rail, bridges and structures, track management system, remote monitoring of railway assets, station infrastructure, engine noise analysis and management, electric drives, advance communication systems.