IIT Guwahati to help railways in operation and expansion of rail network in Northeast

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati has collaborated with Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR) for better operation and expansion of railway network, particularly in the remote parts of the Northeast.

The IITG on Saturday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with NFR for collaborating on research projects to better serve the needs of the northeastern states.

Director of the IITG, T G Sitharam said in a statement on Monday that the two organisations would jointly execute various research projects in the areas such as geo-technical assistance, structure, bridges, information technology, overhead equipment, signalling and safety assessment, Artificial Intelligence (AI) based predictive maintenance systems, Internet of Things (IoT) design features, improving maintenance and operations of rolling stock, yards, train operations and Green Technologies.

"We have also agreed to partner with NFR in developing world-class railway stations in this region," he said.

The NFR is one of the 17 railway zones of the Indian Railways and is responsible for operation and expansion of rail network all across Northeastern states and some districts of Bihar and West Bengal.

The IITG would also support the NFR to make their stations plastic-free by providing biodegradable polymer-based alternatives.

The MoU was signed by Vimal Katiyar, dean of research and development, IITG and Yogesh Verma, chief planning and design engineer, NFR in the presence of Sitharam.

The collaboration assumes importance given the fact that some parts of the Northeast including Mizoram capital Aizawl are still out of railway connectivity.