A research centre on developing bullet train technology will be ready at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur by the end of 2015. Funded by the Indian Railway Board, the new Centre for Railway Research (CRR) is being constructed at a cost of USD 5 million.
Indian Railways has identified four thrust areas for research – high-speed trains, developing heavy haul capacity to carry more freight, intelligent maintenance and use of advanced materials like polymers or rubbers.
India is currently considering two corridors for high speed trains. While Japan is conducting the feasibility study for the bullet train project in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor, China will do the same for the Delhi-Chennai route. Operating out of a temporary set-up, Indian Institute of Technology researchers have already started working on suspension and bogies technology for high-speed trains.
Other approved projects worth also USD 5 million are related to R&D of railway technology include the development of provisions for design of steel concrete composite railway bridges for high speed passenger traffic.
Developing bullet trains would require an array of rolling stock design aspects to be addressed, such as, aerodynamic design of rolling stock, vehicle dynamics, vibration and noise control, advanced control of electric loco drives, static and dynamic analysis of railway bridges.
With the growth in Indian economy, Indian Railways transport business is expected to grow at an average rate of 10% per annum over the next ten years. To achieve this growth Indian Railways considers it essential to make use of the technological advancements in the field of Railway Technology, as technology plays a major role not only in improving safety standards and the quality of service but also in productive utilisation of the rail infrastructure and reducing costs. To obtain the 10% annual growth in profit targeted in the Vision 2020 document, it is imperative that the haulage of freight trains must be increased along with their speed. Moreover, Indian Railways, which at present is an importer of technology, intends to develop cutting edge indigenous technologies and turn a net exporter of technology by 2020. To achieve the above goals, the Indian Railways has decided to develop a long-term framework for research collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur through the Centre for Railway Research
by Elena Ilie
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