Kolkata, Sep 25 (IANS) Operational staff of the Vande Bharat trains will soon begin advanced training at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur. The institute has signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Railways Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (IRIMEE), Jamalpur, to strengthen technical capacity in advanced rolling stock technologies.
The tie-up, coordinated by IIT Kharagpur’s Centre for Railway Research (CRR), will deliver specialised residential training for Indian Railways (IR) officials on semi-high-speed trains. Training modules will cover advanced traction and propulsion systems, electrical safety, Train Control and Management Systems (TCMS), rolling stock diagnostics, condition monitoring, reliability engineering, and regenerative braking.
“The MoU was signed by Prof Swagata Dasgupta, Dean of Outreach, IIT Kharagpur, and Prem Prakash, Dean, IRIMEE, with Prof Vikranth Racherla, IIT Kharagpur, and Siddharth Shankar, IRIMEE, serving as nodal officers,” the institute said. It added that the initiative would combine classroom learning, laboratory experiments, hands-on exposure, and field visits to contribute to safer, smarter, more reliable, and increasingly indigenous railway technologies.
IR currently operates 79 Vande Bharat trains across various routes, with plans to introduce more in the near future. The railways also run a Vande Bharat sleeper train between Howrah and Kamakhya (Assam). As more sleeper trains are built, additional staff will be needed to operate and maintain them.
Officials said on-board staff would need the expertise to identify problems in advanced systems and the capability to rectify them, particularly for sleeper trains running longer routes. IR has plans to acquire 260 Vande Bharat sleeper trainsets, 60 of which are under construction. In addition, a prototype of a Vande Bharat freight train is undergoing trials.
Unlike normal rakes that require locomotives, Vande Bharat trainsets comprise several carriages fitted with electric traction motors. Each carriage can power itself and two others without motors, resulting in a complex setup. The trains also use high-end control technology, making advanced training essential for operators.
–IANS
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