IIT Roorkee all set to give wings to PM’s bullet train dream

PLAN The institute says the draft of MoU between the railway board and the institute is being prepared to achieve the objective of high-speed rail technology

ROORKEE: Indian Institute of Technology - Roorkee (IIT-R) is all set to give wings to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream vehicle -- a bullet train. The institute authorities said the draft of memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the railway board and the institute is being prepared to achieve the objective of high speed rail technology.

“The MoU draft of high speed rail technology is almost ready and very soon it will be signed by both the parties concerned i.e. the institute and the railway board,” said IIT-R director Pradipta Banerji.

“We cannot, however, divulge the details of MoU right now. After inking the MoU, both the parties will decide on the course of action,” he said.

Sources, however, disclosed that IIT-R will apparently give its expertise in the field of high speed, safety, railway structure development, freight (transportation) and railway bridges.

“As we have a long history in the field of structural, bridge development, signal processing and other issues related with railways transportation, we can bring in our civil, mechanical, electronic and computer engineering experts together for playing a significant role in this direction,” said an institute professor, privy to the developments.

Incidentally, IIT-R has also developed its own centre of railway research in the institute premises.

Roorkee has been associated with the railways ever since it was introduced in the country.

According t o t he I I T- R record, the first ever railway track of 5 kms was laid between Roorkee and Piran Kaliyar in 1851.

A locomotive engine and two bogies ran on the track to carry the construction materials for the development of local solani (Ganga) channel.

However, the general belief is that the first train in India ran between Mumbai and Thane on April 16, 1853.