South Central Railway’s Zonal Railway Training Institute (SCR-ZRTI), Moula Ali, which recently completed 50 years of providing training to freshers and offering refresher courses to key field personnel such as station masters, loco-pilots, guards, ticket clerks and others, is in for a major ₹150 crore infrastructure upgrade.
Situated on the verdant 19.73 acres with the historic hillock of Moula Ali in the backdrop, the premier institute will soon get an advanced guard brake van simulator. This will be in addition to the existing station master simulator and an air brake van facility for training.
The institute is also awaiting the indigenously developed Train Avoidance Collision System (TCAS) or ‘Kavach’ module, to be used for training staff like loco-pilots and others, as the integration is expected to be expedited across the railway network in the next few years.
Advanced classrooms and equipment
AC classrooms, digital interactive boards, overhead projectors with screens for displaying pictures, animations and videos through computer systems in classrooms and miniature models have all been introduced in recent times. The model traffic room with four stations is being renovated at a cost of ₹1.6 crore to house advanced electronic signal instruments, replacing the obsolete systems. Moreover, a new course has been introduced especially for station masters and traffic personnel on the advanced systems, said principal G. Yadagari.
Mr. Yadagiri, an IRTS officer, has the unique distinction of being a station master trainee, instructor and the principal heading it. “It is an honour to return as the principal. My focus has been on improving the infrastructure as we need new buildings for classrooms, hostels and new advanced equipment,” he said.
ZRTI has the capacity to train about 500 personnel from over 25 courses in-house daily. It also accommodates trainees–freshers or refreshers from other zones lacking such an institute and from organisations like Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL).
“Every year, we cater to around 10,000 personnel of both commercial and training wings for initial, refresher and promotional courses. We had successfully shifted to the digital mode during the COVID-19 pandemic after the lockdown was lifted,” said the principal.
The institute with Nizam-era buildings also houses a special attraction in a 200-year-old step well, which was used to irrigate mango gardens and is now generating about 10,000 litres of water catering to the needs of two other railway institutes in the vicinity. General Manager Arun Kumar Jain inaugurated the renovated well recently.
