Title - IIT-B re-designing Railways' platforms, coaches

In a bid to improve the infrastructure and ease public movement at some of the major stations, the Railways has decided to rope in the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) to redesign its platforms and coaches. Sources say the Railways has already entered into a contract with the Industrial Design Centre (IDC) of the IIT and asked for unique designs for all its stations, not just in Maharashtra but for other states too. Prof. G.G. Ray, head of department, IDC, IIT-B, said this is one of the biggest projects that the IDC has undertaken, and work on the designs is being carried out round the clock at the institute. “Creating designs for infrastructure that is of international standards is a huge task. But we hope to come up with designs to accommodate the movement of passengers entering and exiting trains as well as stations,” Prof. Ray said. He added that the designs would be holistic and would also entail making completely new designs from scratch for the coaches. In making the designs, cost and feasibility will be the foremost factors considered, but Prof. Ray declined to name a figure for the overall cost the Railways would incur. Sources in the Railways said the institute has been provided with blueprints of the existing stations to expedite work. “The designs for the stations will be done in a phased manner, with priority being given to stations that have the maximum footfalls in a day,” said the source. According to Prof. Ray, the designs for the first phase will be ready by the first week of June and after they are approved by the Railways, work will begin on the second phase. The IDC has been responsible for providing innovative designs to the government and the industry, with its biggest contribution being the design of the rupee symbol that was drawn by Uday Kumar, a student of the institute.