Railways to set up own design centre at NID Ahmedabad

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed today between the ministry of railways and and the National Institute of Design Ahmedabad to set up a 'railway design centre' in the NID campus.

The MoU will enable Indian Railways to have one morer design centre.

The centre will be operated from the accrued interest on an endowment fund of Rs10 crore being contributed by the ministry of railways.

Speaking on the occasion, railway minister Suresh Prabhu said Indian Railways' partnership with NID will lead to customers' happiness by way of better-designed coaches and providing cost effective solutions to problems faced by passengers during train travel.

He urged the NID to "work out the most cost effective designs for coaches as our system is generally price-sensitive and quality conscious". He also said that with this initiative, the railways had fulfilled yet another commitment made in Railway Budget 2015-16 towards improving passenger services.

He hoped that with the signing of this MoU, new designs for further improving the passenger amenities will be available and put into use soon on Indian Railways.

NID has been designated as an 'Institute of National Excellence' through an act of parliament.

Minister of state for commerce and industries (independent charge) Nirmala Sitaraman said  that the partnership between the ministry of railways and NID will benefit rail passengers especially the old and physically handicapped, through innovative ideas and technology.

Minister of state for Railways Manoj Sinha said that the NID under the ministry of commerce and Industry is a prestigious institution, which is capable of benefiting the railways with its new and innovative ideas and solutions towards improving passenger amenities.

He congratulated both Indian Railways and NID for this new initiative and emphasised the need for greater synergy between the two organisations towards providing innovative solutions to the problems of railway customers by providing passenger friendly services.

According to V. K. Gupta, member engineering, Railway Board, the railway design centre will develop new concepts in design and innovations in various fields of railway operations like passenger amenities at station areas and in trains, improvement to coach layouts, environmental issues, various maintenance tools, IT and communication issues, etc.

The industry - academia approach to design will benefit both organisatons; the Railways will gain from improved concepts and facilities,  while the NID would gain from experience in real life projects and add values to its academic and research programmes.

While appreciating this move, Prof, P. Vyas, director, NID, said that NID will improve passenger services through innovative ideas focusing on people, environment and sustainability through this Research Centre.

This MoU, which will be initially for 10 years, can be further extended as mutually agreed.