Signalling in the Railways is considered as one of the primary arteries and is very unique to its operational system. With corporate majors such as L&T and Reliance bagging major railway projects, the Secunderabad-based Indian Railways Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunication (IRISET) will soon be flagging customised courses for these corporates. Besides, it is in the process of wooing foreign railway personnel from Asia and Africa to impart training in signalling and telecommunication systems.
The institute, which started in 1957, has over 12 laboratories, 14 well-equipped classrooms along with a technical library stocking over 32,000 technical books and has been recognised by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP). According to V Balaram, director of the institute, there is lot of interest shown by foreign railways to undergo training. With a modest start, it is learnt that the first foreign railway trainee from Africa received his training in June 1962. During 2005-06, about 20 foreign trainees from Syria, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Tanzania, Turkey and Ghana have undergone training in the institute. So far, 283 trainees from 19 foreign railways have undergone courses in the institute.
?Railway signalling and interlocking is very specific to the Railways and there is constant upgradation and replacement of the old signalling system. Hence, there was a need for a special institution to train the manpower in signal engineering,?? he said.
Due to advancement in technology by optic fibre network, mobile train radio communication, VoIP, Wi-Max, etc, the focus is more on safety and speed thus bringing an onerous task on the volume of traffic for the controllers of signals as well, he points out. Moreover, railway signalling and telecommunication is not part of any curriculum of any college or university, training in these areas in India as well as in certain parts of Afro-Asian region is imparted only at IRISET.
?With increasing economic growth, the single largest management enterprise is streamlining its signalling operations, expecting more revolutionary developments in the field of signalling and telecommunication,?? he said, adding that signalling is not just an overhead alignment. Neither a bed of roses to move along the technology transition which was early semaphore signalling (early form of signalling) to multiple aspect colour lifting systems.
From a modest beginning of training around 150 persons in a year in 10 courses, IRISET is now training more than 2,000 persons in 114 courses in a year. Since its inception, about 50,000 trainee officers and supervisors of Indian Railways have received trainings in various courses in the institute. Meanwhile, PSUs such as NTPC, KRCL, Rail Tel, IRCON etc, engaged in rail transportation activities and private sector firms like Satyam Computers, HBL Nife, Infotech Enterprises etc, which are connected with manufacture and supply of equipment and systems and software development in railway signalling, were also trained at the institute. It conducts integration courses in modern technology like electronic interlocking, automatic warning system, optical fiber communication, mobile train radio etc. In terms of faculty, there are over 48 faculty members consisting of both gazetted and non-gazetted facility.
Of late, IRISET has expanded its activities from the conventional training systems by setting up an e-learning centre. This will facilitate anywhere and anytime for an interactive learning.
The centre will be a central repository of all signalling and telecom content. With the e-centre in place, all the zonal signal and telecommunication training centers are connected with IRISET.
