Railways signs pact with Commerce department to set up design centre at NID

NEW DELHI: Making efforts towards modernization of Indian railways, Ministry of Railways signed a pact with Commerce and Industry counterpart for setting up of Railways Design Centre at National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad.

The railways ministry extended Rs 10 crore endowment fund for setting up the design centre.

The Railway Design Centre will develop new concepts in design and innovation in various fields of Railway functioning such as passenger amenities at station areas and in trains, improvement to coach layouts, environmental issues, various maintenance topics, IT and communication issues etc.

The memorandum of understanding was signed in the presence of commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu.

It was a part of the budget announcement.

"The aim is to provide passengers a happy travel experience through the entire life cycle of journey beginning with booking of tickets to deboarding the coach" said Prabhu.

He added that it was the idea is to customize international design best suited to Indian needs. "India is a price sensitive market so the design and service needs to be cost effective and high quality," said Prabhu.