HYDERABAD: Technology changes have helped Indian Railway enhance its productivity to meet the increase in demand for rail traffic, Sudesh Kumar, member (Electrical) Railway Board has said.
Speaking at the 52nd Annual Day celerations of the Indian Railways Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunications (IRISET) here today, he said signalling has evolved from an ordinary means of communication to start a train and later emerged as a symbol of trust and safety on railway tracks over the years.
Participating in the event, the new South Central Railway (SCR) General Manager M S Jayanth said IRISET over a period of time has evolved as a quality institute.
``Signal engineering happens to be the backbone of railways, since this is vital for reliability and safety of rails,’’ Jayanth said.
According to him, advancement made in telecommunication has palyed vital role in the information management of Indian Railways, especially in passenger reservation system, fright and other services.
IRISET Director V Balaram said signalling is very specific to railways.
IRISET is the only institute in railways, which trains both officers and supervisory staff. ``During the last 52 years, about 10,036 officers and 44,906 signal and telecom supervisiors have been trained,’’ Balaram said.
V G K Murti, former Dean of IIT Chennai, said in the earlier days railways used to be the most preferred place of employment for most IIT students. He delivered his speech targeting young trainees of IRISET, by passing on knowledge inputs. The function was attended by many senior officials of the SCR.