New Delhi, Feb 20 The Indian Railways on Thursday announced its partnership with the University of Birmingham for the Joint Master's programme in Railway Systems Engineering and Integration in academic year 2020-2021 by the National Rail Transportation Institute (NRTI).
The announcement was made by Chairman Railway Board Vinod Kumar Yadav and Lord Karan Billimoria, Chancellor, University of Birmingham here.
Yadav said it was the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to develop a Railway University which can look into all aspects of transportation.
"Over the last few years, a lot of transformational work has been done by Railways and the focus has been on capacity enhancement and modernisation of Railways. Indian Railways looks forward to a long-term association with University of Birmingham," he said.
University of Birmingham Vice Chancellor Sir David Eastwood said the varsity is delighted to work with Indian Railways. "University of Birmingham has a proven track record in delivering high quality programmes. He expressed his gratitude for getting the opportunity to work with Indian Railways," he said.
According to the Railway Ministry officials, the programme that has been launched leads to dual M.Sc. that would see NRTI students obtaining two postgraduate degrees from both institutions, after spending a year studying at each institution.
It will also provide flexibility for some modules of the programme to be delivered online in the form of a Postgraduate Certificate (PG Cert) and support for undergraduate teaching by University of Birmingham faculty at NRTI.
"This initiative will benefit NRTI students by providing them access to world class expertise and facilities in railway systems at the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE)," the national transporter said in a statement.
The ministry said that BCRRE is also expected to gain valuable insight into India's transport sector and get involved in related research and development issues in the country.
A railway official said the initiative has been taken under the Centre of Excellence for Next Generation Transportation Systems that had been set up through a Memorandum of Understanding between the NRTI with the University of Birmingham on December 18 last year.
( With inputs from IANS )