Indian Railways to Collaborate with Swiss Railways for Learning Best Practices
Indian Railways is planning to enter into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Swiss Railways to learn from their best practices and procedures, including the hub-and-spoke model and tunneling technology. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, expressed the intention to collaborate with Switzerland to understand their successful methodologies. Vaishnaw highlighted the Swiss hub-and-spoke model, emphasizing the efficiency of having multiple trains arriving and departing at a hub station simultaneously, allowing passengers to easily change trains. The Swiss rail network is based on a hub-and-spoke design with six hubs and various connecting spokes. The MoU aims to facilitate knowledge exchange and improve the Indian railway system based on Switzerland's experiences, particularly in tunneling technology and track structure. Switzerland is recognized for its dense railway network with over 5,200 km of tracks, and the majority of its network is electrified. The collaboration aims to enhance inter-connectivity and incorporate best practices into the Indian rail network.