This TC project commenced in December 2018, being jointly implemented by India and Japan, and is expected to result in enhancing capacities of the Indian Railways (IR), Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) and Commission of Railway Safety (CRS) with regards to safety in the railways network.
The Indian rail network is one of the largest in the world, therefore maintenance of safe and reliable operations is of the utmost priority.
During the last year before the COVID-19 outbreak, JICA invited officials from IR, DFCCIL and CRS to attend training programs in Japan, focusing on Track Maintenance, Rail Welding, Rolling Stock Maintenance and Accident Investigation.
These training programs organized by JICA showcased Japanese good practices of construction, maintenance works and shared Japanese knowledge and experiences with Indian officials.
Speaking on the occasion, JICA India Office Senior Representative Nagai Shinsuke said the JICA expert team and Indian officials have been communicating and maintaining on-line discussions about the safety action plan even under the current situation imposed by the pandemic.
“At this JCC meeting, (the) Japanese and Indian sides have reached the agreement to extend our cooperation project for around one more year to fully utilize the learnings earned from the training programs conducted in Japan last year,” Mr. Nagai said.
He also said it is hoped that this technical cooperation project would contribute to bring a safer environment to India and future action plans would be functionally implemented to promote safe operations and appropriate maintenance in Indian Railway networks.
Due to current circumstances forced on us by the pandemic, it is difficult for Indian and Japanese representatives to physically meet and implement such activities together, however, both sides have been conducting virtual discussions.
This JCC meeting was also held on a virtual platform.
At the meeting, the current progress of safety action plans being implemented based on learning from training programs in Japan and future action plans were discussed.
Especially, methods of Track Maintenance and Rail Welding were intensively discussed.
As a consequence, as part of the future activities for Track Maintenance, Japanese experts will support India to prepare a guideline on adoption of indicator-based management methodologies by using Irregularity Measurement Device.
In the field of Rail Welding, Japanese experts will support India to improve Manuals and regulations to focus on ultrasonic detection methods (double-probe method).
Indian and Japanese sides have also agreed to extend the cooperation period of this TC Project for around one year from October 2020, to December 2021, with the aim to further enhance railway safety in India.
The JCC was Co-chaired Rajiv Chaudhry, General Manager, Northern Railway cum Project Director of the TC Project and Nagai Shinsuke, Senior Representative of JICA India, along with Dr. Makoto Ishida, Chief Advisor of the TC Project and Dr. Fuminao Okumura, JICA Expert on Railway Safety Policy (Member, Japan Transport Safety Board, Government of Japan.)
This article first appeared in the NFA Post and is republished with permission.
