The Railway Board said it would send a two-member expert team overseas to explore advanced designs of couplers, bogies and other freight components. The team is expected to travel to Europe, Australia and North America. The team consists of a senior divisional officer from South Eastern Railway and another accounts officer from East Coast Railway.

These two officials were shortlisted by the operations and finance members of the board and instructions were given to complete a formal form for the selection process, as mentioned in a letter issued by the Rail Boarding on October 18.

Doubts raised about the team

On the contrary, the decision to send a team with limited skills has drawn criticism. Experts believe that a team with more experienced members with in-depth knowledge of goods movement and technical design would have been a better choice. A decision scientist and former chef logistics Jindal officer SteelAnimesh Gupta expressed concern to PTI over the team’s ability to contribute meaningfully to such a technical study. Gupta believes the visit will be more successful if it includes senior railway officials with greater expertise in freight operations and component requirements. These experts will have deeper knowledge of the conditions under which components are used and managed.

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Calls to more experienced members

Gupta further highlighted that a recent ASSOCHAM conference, organized in New Delhi in August, discussed the modernization of railway infrastructurethe modernization of locomotives, passenger cars and the inclusion of new types of wagons. He also shared information related to a report of CRISIS on the theme “Modernization of Railways for Viksit Bharat” which specifically dealt with innovations such as advanced wagon design, smart locomotives and title trains. Gupta questioned the decision to send a representative from a non-technical background to access the mechanical designs. He believes that there is a need for those with more knowledge, as there has been a focus on advanced rail solutions such as Vande Bharat and Amrit Bharat practices.

(With inputs from PTI)