New Delhi

National Institute of Design (NID) has set up a centre for designing passenger friendly coaches and stations for the Indian Railways.

In April, an MoU was signed between Rail Ministry and NID for setting up of Railway Design Centre at the institute’s Ahmedabad campus with a corpus of Rs 10 crore.

Over the next 10 years, the centre is “expected to bring in revolutionary changes in passenger and freight transport facilities through sustained design research and development exclusively dedicated to the Indian Railways,” a Commerce and Industry Ministry statement today said.

It said, the Indian Railways will get a fresh lease of life itself as NID takes on the onerous task of designing passenger friendly coaches and stations.

“The journey doesn’t end there. From earth to space, the list is endless. NID has also a tie-up with Space Application Centre,” it added.

The statement also said that design will act as a catalyst in ‘Make in India’ initiative by benefiting micro, small, cottage and medium industry clusters across the country by design intervention strategies through the Design Clinic Scheme.

Last year, NID was declared as an ‘Institute of National Importance’.

Meanwhile, four new NIDs are coming up at Vijayawada, Jorhat, Kurukshetra and Bhopal, the statement said.

PTI