IIT Kharagpur, railway engineering institute ink pact to train officials on Vande Bharat systems

Kolkata: IIT Kharagpur and the Indian Railways Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (IRIMEE), Jamalpur, have signed an agreement to strengthen the technical capabilities of railway officials in advanced rolling stock technologies.

The five-year collaboration will facilitate specialised residential training programmes focusing on electrical safety and traction systems used in advanced rolling stock, used in Vande Bharat trains and three-phase Mainline Electric Multiple Units, IIT Kharagpur said on Thursday. The agreement was signed recently by IRIMEE Dean Prem Prakash and IIT Kharagpur Dean of Outreach Prof Swagata Dasgupta.

The initiative, coordinated by the Centre for Railway Research (CRR) at IIT Kharagpur, seeks to combine the institute's academic and research expertise with the operational requirements of Indian Railways, the statement said.

Training to cover Vande Bharat, MEMU systems

The curriculum will include electrical safety and protection systems, Vande Bharat traction and propulsion systems, converters, traction motors, Train Control and Management Systems (TCMS), three-phase MEMU traction equipment, rolling stock diagnostics, electrical condition monitoring, reliability engineering, and regenerative and mechanical braking systems.

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The programmes will combine expert lectures with laboratory experiments, hands-on exposure to electrical and electronic systems and guided field visits, allowing railway officials to gain practical understanding of modern train technologies.

Vikranth Racherla of IIT Kharagpur's Department of Mechanical Engineering, who is also Chairperson of the Centre of Excellence for Advanced Transportation (CoEAT), said the collaboration would enable faculty members to train railway officials in electrical safety, advanced propulsion and braking systems of Vande Bharat trains.

The trained officials would be better equipped to contribute to improving standards and specifications, he said. The partnership is also aimed at improving safety and reliability, supporting efficient maintenance and troubleshooting, and strengthening the indigenous technological capabilities of advanced rolling stock, the institute said.