The Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO), Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) - the research and development (R&D) body under the Ministry of Railways, Government of India - has been involved in large scale standardisation and indigenisation of the Indian Railways (IR) assets. In this interview with Rakesh Rao, Dr Anirudh Gautam, Principal Executive Director (Special), RDSO, explains the role of RDSO in the development of railway sector and importance of R&D to make India a global player in railway technologies. 

RDSO was set-up in 1958 by merging two organisations dealing with standardisation and research and development (R&D) at Shimla and Lucknow. At that time Indian Railways (IR) was having different track gauges, rolling stock, signalling system etc. imported from England and Europe. As a first step, RDSO started the standardisation of these assets so that these can be manufactured in India and the economy of scale lowers the cost of manufacture in India. Subsequently, RDSO was involved in indigenisation of imported technologies either through transfer of technologies (ToT) or through reverse engineering. These efforts led to large scale standardization and indigenization of the Indian Railways assets. It was the mandate of RDSO to develop indigenous railway technologies to overcome dependence on foreign technologies. In many areas, RDSO worked to develop indigenous technologies - e.g. track, signals, traction installation, coaches, wagons, locomotives etc. and this led to setting-up of railway industry in India. RDSO was however required to become a proper R&D organisation with permanent scientific cadre similar to ISRO, DRDO, CSIR, etc. for which proposals have been sent to the Railway Board. As and when this happens, RDSO will become fully energised to develop indigenous state-of-the-art railway technologies for IR and export.  

A global benchmarking of the railway sector brings out that countries like Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan and European Countries have used advancement in the railway sector as the engine for growth of economy. Technological advancement in the railway sector is the main force behind these advancements. China, Korea and Taiwan have invested in R&D in railway research in innovation to develop highly advanced railway technology and products. China, for example, has the largest network (more than 45,000 km) of high speed rail running at 350 km per hour (kph) connecting whole of east China. Paramount in this achievement of Chinese Railways is the development of indigenous high-speed rail technologies after initial ToT with four foreign rail companies. The basket of development of indigenous railway technologies in Korea include high-speed rail (> 350 kph), indigenous communication based train control and communication, battery trams with induction charging, novel design of smart wagons, new design of high-speed train sets, digital twinning, smart yards and railway stations etc. Globally, railway sector market has reached a level of Rs 22 trillion per year. Unfortunately, Indian Railways and its industries do not have any significant share in it.  

There are four sectors in which tremendous technological advancements have been achieved in the railway sector - rolling stock, train communication & control and high-speed railway tracks, smart railways, and services. Indian Railways has to strive to become global leader in all of these areas, which is possible only if we strengthen our railway research and innovation ecosystem. Railway Board has taken initiative to set-up Centers for Railway Research in four IITs to harness the research and innovation skills of the IITs. Next step is to create a long-term railway research and innovation entity, fully autonomous and staffed by scientist and experts. 

Vande Bharat train and all its further variants is a technological leap for Indian Railways. Railway Ministry was earlier trying to introduce electrical trainsets on the IR network but could not make progress due to very high cost of imported trainsets (Rs 250 crore for a 12 coach train set). Against this background, ICF and its General Manager Dr Sudhanshu Mani along with Indian industry (Medha, Hyderabad) took up the challenge to develop an indigenous electrical trainset. This 16 coach trainset was designed and developed in a record time of less than 18 months at a cost of Rs 100 crore and successfully tested. So, Vande Bharat trainset is a paradigm shift in the thought process of self-reliance. However, Vande Bharat is only the beginning, we now need to concentrate to increase the speed capacity of railway tracks, signals and the traction installation to 200 kph so that the journey times are drastically reduced and more trains can be run on the same lines to meet the needs of the populace.  

There are similarities and dissimilarities in the manufacturing process of conventional passenger coaches and the Vande Bharat coaches. Coaches of both type of trains are made up of outer shell, bogies, brake system, suspension system, interior furnishing, HVAC equipment etc. Outer shell and bogies are fabricated from steel sheets, however there is a design difference between the shell and bogies of the conventional coach and Vande Bharat coach. Vande Bharat train is made in four units of four coach each. 

In one unit there are two motoring coaches and two trailing coaches. This means that out of the four coaches of one unit, two coaches have traction motors fitted on to them. Also, traction equipment like traction transformer and pantograph, traction converter, DC-DC converters etc are fitted on the coaches itself. Fitment of these additional equipment on the Vande Bharat coaches translates into different manufacturing set-up and fixtures, sequence of process vis-à-vis conventional coaches. Also, the suspension system of the Vande Bharat coaches is designed for higher speeds and capable to tolerate high vibrations and shocks of the Indian Railways track. Vande Bharat coaches have motorised outer and internal doors, hence fitment of these involve additional manufacturing processes. Vande Bharat coaches are fitted with electro-pneumatic brakes since these are captive units in a train whereas the conventional coaches have pneumatic brakes where the speed of brake propagation is slower. Vande Bharat coaches are fitted with infotainment systems and level of digitization of the these coaches are much higher than the conventional coaches. 

Bogie design is the biggest innovation of Vande Bharat coaches. These bogies have been specifically designed for the Vande Bharat trains by a Polish design consultant as India still does not have bogie design capability either in the production units or RDSO. RDSO is in the process of setting-up a bogie design center at RDSO. However, ICF and RDSO have been closely involved in the approval process of the Vande Bharat coaches bogies. Another major innovation of Vande Bhart train is the design and development of the power electronic apparatus and the Train Control Management System (TCMS) which has been carried out indigenously by Medha Hyderabad, a highly innovative Indian firm. ICF, RDSO and Medha have worked in collaboration to approve the designs of the Vande Bharat Trains.  

Another aspect worth mentioning is the record time of 15 days in testing of the Vande Bharat trains including oscillation trials which was done by the testing team of RDSO under leadership of its ED/Testing Rupesh Kohli. Usually, it takes a month or more to carry out the oscillation trials of a rolling stock. Vande Bharat is the first indigenously developed semi-high speed train set in India through many in house innovations.  

Main challenge in the growth of Indian Railways is setting-up of proper long-term R&D organisation for developing of cutting edge novel railway technologies to suit Indian conditions. Indian Railways must set up this organisation within few months. China and Korea who are late entrants to the railway club have made huge progress in railway technology because of its strong R&D ecosystem. In China, for example, the Chinese Academy of Railway Sciences (CARS) is carrying out cutting-edge railway research and has developed many state-of-the-art indigenous railway technologies, notable amongst these are high speed (more than 350 kph) train technology and a network of more than 45,000 km of high speed infrastructure. Chinese have developed own designs of magnetic levitation trains, tested Hyperloop trains at speeds of 625 kph, designed and developed their own communication based train control and communication, traction installations systems for high speeds etc. China has formed a very effective ecosystem of railway research and innovation which includes its technical institutes, government scientific bodies, local industries and CARS. It has also created many international collaborations in this sphere. 

Moto of Chinese Railways is to: a) Acquire technology, b) Absorb technology, c) Innovate and improve technology and d) Exploit technology. In contrast, Indian Railways has adopted the policy of purchasing equipment and in few cases ToT which does not lead to development of in-house local technologies.  

In Korea also, the Korean Rail Research Institute (KRRI) has collaboration with its industry, academic institutes, scientific bodies and international railway research bodies. So, strong in-house railway research and innovation is the first and the most crucial step for success of Indian Railways. 

Second most important step in advancement of Indian Railways is upgrading its railway track structure to 200 kph. At present, on IR, the average speed to the passenger trains is 50 kph and of goods train is 25 kph. This has to be doubled at least if the customers continue to patronise Indian Railways. For implementation of the PM Gati Shakti master plan, IR has to act as backbone for passenger and goods movement. So enhancing the track speeds to 200 kph is the second most important action.  

For faster movement of trains, reliability of the signalling systems is of utmost value. Therefore, this is the third crucial step for growth of Indian Railways. 

India won the two wars with Pakistan due to its human assets although its equipment and apparatus were older. There has to be policy of recruiting engineers for IR immediately after class 12th similar to the NDA system and similar to the erstwhile Special Class Railway Apprenticeship system. So 50 per cent recruitment should be after class 12th through Gati Shakti Vidyalaya and Jamalpur Institute, Nasik Institute, Poona Institute and Hyderabad Institute. Balance 50 per cent recruitment can be done from engineering graduates. Indian Railways is predominantly an engineering organisation, therefore, recruitment of capable apprentices or engineers is the most important ingredient for growth and development of IR.  

Most important action would be to strengthen our track and signal infrastructure and remove all speed restrictions on the track and signals so that maximum speed capability of track be 200 kph. Massive inputs in terms of investment and manpower in this area is the top priority. Involvement and training of IR and private industry personnel has to be carried out on an emergency basis. IR should now work on developing high-speed trainsets capable of operating at speeds of 350 kph and also design and develop matching high-speed tracks. Conversion of existing diesel locomotives to operate on methanol is the need of the hour. At present IR consumes about 1.6 billion litres of diesel per year for diesel traction. Although IR will be electrified 100 per cent by end of 2025, there will be need of operating 30-40 per cent diesel (methanol) locomotives for reliability of traction and to take care of exigencies. RDSO is already in the process of converting diesel locomotive engines to use methanol fuel. Methanol fuel can be produced from indigenous coal and biomass so this will be completely home-grown fuel.  

Use of fuel cells and batteries for traction will be required especially to reduce the cost of running suburban and urban trains. A healthy mix of say 10 per cent traction will be running on hydrogen fuel cell battery trains. This technology will be required to reduce the cost of Metro railways which is about Rs 250 crore per km. With the use of fuel cell battery train this can be brought down to less than Rs 75 crore per km.  

Diesel locomotives are already running with 7 per cent biodiesel blended in diesel supplied by IOCL so there is a direct displacement of diesel with biodiesel. 

IIT Madras is working on development of Hyperloop train technology, further investment is required to speed up the development in this area especially since China has already tested Hyperloop train at 625 kph through indigenous technology development. An investment of Rs 5000 crore is immediately required in Hyperloop train technology development as this is a very promising technology. Wireless charged trams and metro trains for long traffic density urban areas are other promising technology development areas. Smart wagon with digital technology and self-power will be needed to increase the freight loading output for the growing sector of other balanced goods. Development of 160-180 kph freight wagon bogie for light wagons is required to be taken up immediately.