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Annual Report 2010-2011

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GENERAL

INTRODUCTION

FUNCTIONS

ORGANISATION

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In 1853, the Railways were introduced in India andwith their expansion through the twentieth century,several company managed and state-owned railwaysystems grew up. To enforce standardisation and co-ordination amongst various railway systems, the IndianRailway Conference Association (IRCA) was set up in1903 followed by the Central Standards Office (CSO)in 1930, for preparation of designs, standards andspecifications. However, till independence, most of thedesigns and manufacture of railway equipments wasentrusted to foreign consultants.But with Independenceand the resultant phenomenal growth in country'sindustrial and economic activities leading to increase inthe demand for rail transportation,there was a completeshift in emphasis in the field of design & manufacture.Consequently, a new organisation called RailwayTesting and Research Centre (RTRC) was set up on1st September,1952 with its headquarter at Lucknowfor testing and conducting indigenous appliedresearch in railway technology. Later on, CentralStandards Office (CSO) and the Railway Testing andResearch Centre (RTRC) were merged into a singleunit and thus in 1957, Research Designs andStandards Organisation (RDSO) came into being as anattached office of Railway Board.

The status of RDSO has been changed from an'Attached Office' to 'Zonal Railway' with effect from 1stJanuary, 2003.

RDSO is the sole R&D organisation of IndianRailways and functions as the technical advisor toRailway Board, Zonal Railways and ProductionUnits. Basically, its major functions involve:

Development of new and improved designs.

Development, adoption, absorption of newtechnology for use on Indian Railways.

Development of standards for materials andproducts specially needed by Indian Railways.

Technical investigation, statutory clearances,testing and providing consultancy services.

Inspection of critical and safety items of rollings t o c k , l o c o m o t i v e s , s i g n a l l i n g &telecommunication equipment and trackcomponents.

RDSO also offers international consultancy services inmatters pertaining to design,testing and inspection ofrailway equipments as well as survey for construction ofnew lines. The significant accomplishments of RDSO inthe sphere of research & development have alwaysattracted worldwide attention.

At the head of the organisation is the Director General &ex officio General Manager who is assisted by anAdditional Director General, Sr. Executive Directors andExecutive Directors, controlling the followingdirectorates :

Bridges & Structures

Carriage

Defence Research

Electrical Loco

Electrical Energy Management

EMU & Power Supply

Engine Development

Finance &Accounts

Geo-technical Engineering

Metallurgical & Chemical

Motive Power

Psycho-technical

QualityAssurance

Research

Signal

Telecommunication

Track

Testing

Track Machines & Monitoring

Traction Installation

Traffic

Wagon

All the directorates of RDSO except DefenceResearch are located at Lucknow. The Cells forRailway Production Units and Industries which lookafter liaison, inspection and development work arelocated at Bangalore, Bhopal, Mumbai, Burnpur,Kolkata, and New Delhi.The Indian Railways Centrefor Advanced Maintenance Technology(CAMTECH) atGwalior is also functioning under the administrativecontrol of RDSO.

The Group-wise strength of the work force ofRDSO (As on 31.3.2011) is given below:

Group 'A' 186

Group 'B' 141

Group 'C' 2068

Group 'D' 41

Total 2436

Category On Roll

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Annual Report 2010-2011

RDSO - AN ISO : 9001-2000 CERTIFIEDORGANISATION

QUALITY POLICY

GOVERNING COUNCIL

CENTRAL BOARD OF RAILWAY RESEARCH

COLLABORATION WITH OTHER RESEARCH ANDACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS

STANDARDS COMMITTEES

TECHNOLOGY MISSION FOR RAILWAY SAFETY

Mission Programme-I

Traction and Rolling Stock

Mission Programme-II

Track and Bridges

Mission Programme-III

Signals and Communications

Mission Programme-IV

Fog Vision Instrumentation

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Seeking to nurture a quest for excellence in the sphereof research , design and development with its immenseefforts, RDSO has today become one of thedistinguished institutions of Indian Railways. Marchingahead on its way to success, RDSO has acquired thecoveted ISO:9001-2000 certification. This wasaccomplished with in-house efforts without engagingany consultant.

The Quality policy & Objectives of RDSO truly cherishand reflect the Organisation's commitment for genuineintellectual & professional pursuit and growth:

To achieve excellence in designs , standards andevaluation of railway technology.

To meet statutory and regulatory requirements.

Research, development and human resourceupgradation.

Effectiveness of Quality Management System.

Upgradation of performance levels.

Infrastructure and quality norms for vendors.

Provide safe, reliable, comfortable and costeffective transportation to meet customers' need.

Governing Council comprises Chairman Railway Boardas its Chairman, the Financial Commissioner, MemberEngineering, Member Mechanical, Member Staff,Member Electrical, Member Traffic,Addl. Member (Plg)/Railway Board and Director General/RDSO as themembers. The functions of Governing Council are:

To identify and approve the R&D projects fortechnology development on Indian Railways.

To review the progress of projects.

To determine the quantum of direct investment intechnology development within the overallallocation of funds under the plan head 'RailwayResearch'.

To give direction for improving the working ofRDSO.

The 29 Governing Council meeting was held on29.03.2011 at RDSO.

Central Board of Railway Research (CBRR) consist ofDG/RDSO as Chairman, Addl. Member (Civil Engg.),Addl. Member (Mechanical Engg), Addl. Member(Elect.), Addl. Member (Sig), Addl. Member (Traffic),Advisor(Finance), Executive Director (E&R), ExecutiveDirector (Plg.)/Railway Board as members and Addl.Director General/RDSO as member secretary. The nonrailway members of CBRR consist of eminentscientists, technologists, engineers and seniorexecutives of other research organisations, academicinstitutions and industrial units related to railwaytechnology and materials. Functions of CBRR are:

To consider and recommend the programme ofresearch on Indian Railways.

To review the research programme from time totime.

To ensure coordination and assistance from otherresearch laboratories.

To review the ongoing projects from the technicalangle.

The 43 Central Board of Railway Research(CBRR) meeting was held on 17.06.2011 at RDSO.

In order to explore and exploit the latest technology,RDSO regularly interacts and works with various R&Dorganisations like IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Roorkee, IIT- Dellhi,IIT-Chennai, IIT-Kharagpur ,DRDO-New Delhi andother major organisations.

For effective adoption and implementation, newdesigns, standards, specifications and studies done atRDSO are examined by Technical StandardsCommittee comprising concerned departmental headsof all Zonal Railways as members and concernedExecutive Director of RDSO as member secretary. Therecommendations of these committees after approval ofthe Railway Board are adopted on the Railways.

A Technology Mission for Railway Safety has been setup to comprehensive address safety related issues inIndian Railways. Following projects have beenapproved by Railway Board under Technology Missionfor Railway Safety :

Track side Bogie Mounted System

Derailment Detection Devices

Sensors for Detecting hot Boxes, Hot wheels

On-Board Diagnostics

Wheels &Axles of Improved metallurgy

Measuring Wheel Technology

Environmental Friendly Coach Toilet DischargeSystem

Corrosion Prevention of Rails

Improved Rail Fastening

Rail Flaw Detection Instrumentation

Satellite Imaging for Rail Navigation (SIMRAN)

The Mission has been closed.

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Annual Report 2010-2011

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General

INFRASTRUCTURE

Air Brake Laboratory

Brake Dynamometer Laboratory

B&S Laboratory

Diesel Engine Development Laboratory

Fatigue Testing Laboratory

Geo-technical Engineering Laboratory

Metallurgical & Chemical Laboratory

Psycho-Technical and Ergonomics Laboratory

Signal Testing Laboratory

RDSO carries out its activities through a sprawlingcampus spread over 159 hectares which housesamongst other things a number of laboratories wellequipped with research and testing facilities fordevelopment, testing and design evaluation of variousrailway related equipments and materials. Some ofthese are:

is equipped with facilities forsimulating operation of air brakes on freight trains up to192 wagons and 3 locomotives as also for simulation ofpassenger trains up to 30 coaches.

has facilities todevelop and test brake friction materials forlocomotives, coaches and wagons. This laboratory,being unique of its kind in India, has also been used byR&D organisations of Ministry of Defence like DMRL,DRDL and HAL for indigenisation of brake pads fordefence aircrafts.

has a 6m x 14m heavy duty testing

floor for testing of full scale models of beam, slabs,columns, towers, shells and other concrete and steelcomponents under static and dynamic loads. A highfrequency ranging 250-700 cycles/min pulsator for theapplication of a pulsating loads varying from 2 to 20tonnes and a maximum static load of 40 tonnnes onheavy duty testing floor. The Laboratory is equippedwith analogue strain indicator, multi channel dynamicstrain recording system, switching & balancing units,acoustic emission equipment, data acquisition systemetc. for recording various parameters.

has four testbeds capable of testing diesel engines from 100 to 6000HP with fully computerised systems for recording of over128 test parameters at a time. This facility has alreadyenabled RDSO to develop technologies for improvingfuel efficiency, reliability and availability of dieselengines as well as to extract higher output from existingdiesel engines.

for testing prototypelocomotive and rolling stock bogies, springs and otherrailway equipments subjected to stress and fatigue soas to ascertain their expected service life.

is equippedwith facilities for determining strength parameters of soilin lab and field condition. The state-of-the-art Sub-surface Interface Radar (SIR) system, Laser based soilparticle analyser, and computerised consolidation testapparatus have been installed in the lab. The lab alsohas computerised Static Triaxial Shear apparatus fordetermining the strength of soil as well as the design ofembankment.

is capable ofdestructive and non-destructive testing of metals,polymers, composites, petroleum products and paints.The M&C laboratory has Scanning ElectronMicroscope, Direct reading spectrometer, UltrasonicFlaw Detector and other non destructive examinationequipment, polymer and composite evaluation facilities,thermal analyser, corrosion engineering evaluationfacilities including weatherometer, static 760 hour ARtest rig for grease testing, V2F dynamic test rig forgrease testing, lube oil filter evaluation rig Cetanerating machine & 50t machine for rubber deflectioncharacteristics.

facilitates the assessment of critical psycho-physicalattributes of operational staff such as drivers,switchmen and station masters for efficient operation.The ergonomic laboratory of Psycho-technicaldirectorate is also equipped with bio-feedback systemfor assessment of EMG,GSR(Galvanic SkinResistance) temperature, pulse and respiration rate andis used for stress management exercises.

is capable of testing of all

Air Brake Laboratory

Brake Dynamometer Laboratory

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Annual Report 2010-2011

types of signalling equipments such as safety signallingrelays, block instruments, power supply equipments,point machines, signalling cables, electro-mechanicalsignalling equipments/ components etc. There is anexclusive environmental testing section equipped withenvironmental testing facilities. These include,programmable heat, humidity & cold chambers, mouldgrowth, dust, rain chambers. Signalling EquipmentDevelopment Centre has been set up in the SignallingLab. In this Centre, working signalling equipment &systems have been set up. The working systemsinclude SSI, universal axle counter, VLSI axle counter,AFTCs, block instruments etc. In addition, equipmentdeveloped by RDSO, such as signalling relays, poly-carbonate lenses, LED signal lamps, triple pole doublefilament lamps, power supply equipment etc. have alsobeen displayed.

for testing full scale track panelsunder realistic dynamic load patterns and fatigue testingof welded rail joints. Stresses at various locations oftrack components under simulated load conditions aremeasured and recorded for analysis. This has helped inrationalising and optimising design of track structuresfor Indian conditions. The facility of fatigue testing ofwelded rail joints is also available. Special rail

tensioning system for application of longitudinal forceson rail samples to simulate the thermal forces has beenindigenously developed, installed and commissioned intrack lab. This system, with capacity of upto 150 tonne instatic condition,is being used to conduct testing ofdifferent rail samples.

for recording of trackparameters, locomotive power and conductingoscillograph trials for evaluating vehicle-trackinteraction and also for monitoring track conditions:

for recording track andvehicle parameters and track and vehicleinteraction studies.

for measurement ofbraking effort and coupler forces.

Facilities for conducting rating and performancetrials of locomotives.

for testing and recordingparameters of overhead traction equipment.

for conductingvehicle characterisation tests on railway vehicles tostudy the behaviour of suspension systems and todetermine natural frequencies.

This centre has been established to guide andassist the maintenance personnel spread over theentire Indian Railway system. The functions of thiscentre include:

Preparation of maintenance instructions for alltypes of rolling stock including subassembliesand systems.

Preparation of maintenance instructions for track,signalling and electrical infrastructural assets.

Assessing maintenance requirements and layingdown preventive maintenance schedules.

Determining the yardstick for the requirements ofmaintenance depots by identifying themanpower, machinery and material.

Providing technical assistance to the railways intackling maintenance related problems.

Training the technical staff from the railways forimproved maintenance techniques.

Preparation of training aids for assistance ofzonal training schools for training of skilled andsemiskilled technical personnel.

Making user friendly manuals using multimediadigital technology for easy utilization by the fieldstaff.

Compiling and updating technical instructions,codes and manuals and making them easilyavailable for the field staff.

RDSO Central Library consisting of over 1.40 lacsbooks, bound periodicals, specifications, reports andther technical publications, is a valuable source of

Track Laboratory

Mobile Test Facilities

Oscilliograph cars

Brake dynamometer car

Special purpose car

Vehicle Characterisation Laboratory

Centre for advanced maintenance technology,Gwalior:

CENTRAL LIBRARY

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Psycho-Tech. Laboratory

Track Laboratory

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Annual Report 2010-2011

information and knowledge. It helps in keeping abreastof the latest developments in railway technology andallied subjects. Library offers a wide range of lending,reference and information services. Considerableefforts and resources have been put into thedevelopment of an exquisite collection to cater to thegrowing needs of research & development.

The important activities during the year are given below :

The bibliographicdetails of 45,000 books and reports aredisplayed through webopac on intranet. Now theusers can search the documents with keywords,author & title through intranet in RDSO. 332books and 65 standards were added to the librarycollection.

Librarycatalogue, CurrentAcquisitions for books, LibraryMembership Form, Quarterly Notifications etc.are made available on intranet

The e-resources were subscribed in RDSO, andtheir access is made available to the usersthrough password / IP address throughintranet. Jane's World Railways, ScienceDirect, COMPENDEX & INSPEC on EV-2,ACM / Digital Library and all the 14 segmentsof Indian Standards (Network version) havebeen subscribed. The new databases of IECand ASTM were subscribed in the current year.Membership of 8 national and internationalinstitutions were taken in 2009-10.Training /Orientation programme organized on e-resources in Sept.2009 in Central Library.

The book t i t led "RDSO TransformingRailways", Compendium on R&D projects,Plastic Engineering were published byCentral Library.

All the major information and results of RDSO'sactivities were widely circulated through variousResearch Reports, Codes, manuals and specificationsetc. Besides, RDSO brings out a quarterly magazine"Indian Railway Technical Bulletin" containing technicalarticles on topics of railway interest. The quarterly housejournal "RDSO Highlights"' covering prominentactivities of the organization was also published duringthe year.

The Public Relation branch takes care of visitingdignitaries as well as affords necessary assistance tothe students/trainees from different institutes. Constantliaison is also maintained with the mass media to keepthe common man aware of the special type of worksbeing done by this research organisation of IndianRailways.

The reservation policy related to reserved communitycandidates as applicable in the cases of Recruitment &Promotion under Government of India is beingimplemented by this organization. All privileges,concessions, relaxations to the reserved communitycandidates such as presence of reserved communitymember in the selection board, facility of pre-selectioncoaching, relaxation of marks in selection posts includingthe policy of best amongst failed etc. are also beingobserved by thisorganization while granting promotions.

Aselection grade officer has been nominated as LiaisonOfficer/Reservation. The main responsibility of the LO/Ris to watch implementation of various policies ofGovernment made for the benefit and upliftment ofreserved community employees.

Separate Reservation Cell is functioning in thisorganization. All proposals of direct recruitment andpromotions are routed through this section. ReservationCell is also conducting periodical inspection ofcommunal rosters maintained for various posts andensures implementation of various safeguards providedto reserved community candidates.

A full-fledged SC/ST Staff Association is functioning inRDSO. The aim of the Association is to strive forharmonious relationship between the reservecommunity employees and the Administration in allmatters of common concern and to defend the benefits,interest, rights and privileges of these employees in thematters relating to their employment and improvementof their service conditions.

Official Language Implementation Committee, headed bythe Director General held quarterly meetings to review theprogressive use of Hindi. RDSO & its Inspection Unit atNew Delhi, Bhopal, & Mumbai have been notified underRule 10 (4) of the Official Language Rules-1976. Originalcorrespondence for regions 'A' 'B' & 'C' has been 95%,86%, and 66% respectively. Almost all the 7026documents of section 3(3) of the Official Language Act-1963 were issued in Hindi/ Bilingually. Two Workshops onHindi noting and drafting were organized during the year.All the 19 Codes/Manuals have been translated/published in Hindi.

Rajbhasha week was celebrated from 14-09-2010 to20-09-2010. During the week, Official LanguageExhibition & number of cultural activities etc. wereorganized. The concluding ceremony was organized on20-09-2010 in which winners of various competitionsand incentive/award schemes, personnel who havedone good work in hindi during the year and certificatesby the Director General.

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Automation of Library :

Library Resources on Intranet :

Subscription of e-resources :

PUBLICATIONSAND PUBLIC RELATION

STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF RESERVATIONPOLICY FOR SCs & STs

RAJBHASHA

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