Southern Railway General Manager U. Subba Rao inaugurated a Kavach Lab, an IP-based Integrated Passenger Information System (IPIS) Lab and several modern training facilities at the Zonal Signal and Telecommunication Training Centre (ZSTTC) in Podanur on October 23.
During his inspection, the General Manager inaugurated smart interactive panels in all classrooms and laid the foundation stone for a new G+2 gents’ hostel, a computer-based examination hall and a signalling model room in the outdoor yard.
At the Centre’s Founder’s Day function, he launched the Institutional Training Management System (ITMS) web portal, designed to digitise training records from a trainee’s reporting to the Centre until their relieving.
Technical posters and pamphlets on cybersecurity, Earth Leakage Detectors, axle counter resetting procedures in automatic signalling sections, and Kavach handover and takeover checklists were also released. Best Trainee awards for 2024 and 2025 were presented during the event.
Addressing the gathering, U. Subba Rao stressed that technological advancements in the Signal and Telecommunication (S&T) department brought greater responsibility, particularly in safety-critical operations. He cautioned staff against taking shortcuts while working on such systems and emphasised the need to train competent personnel who remain updated on technological developments through continuous learning and knowledge sharing.
He suggested installing interactive kiosks in field supervisors’ offices to facilitate knowledge refreshment through question-and-answer sessions. He also proposed adopting augmented reality and virtual reality technologies for immersive training in emerging technologies and safety-critical systems, along with developing an artificial intelligence-based troubleshooting application to assist technicians in the field.
Vijai Singh Meena, Principal Chief Signal and Telecommunication Engineer, Southern Railway; Panna Lal, Divisional Railway Manager, Salem; S. Nageswara Rao, Chief Signal and Telecommunication Engineer, South Western Railway; and Arindam Chatterjee, Chief Workshop Manager, S&T Workshop, Podanur, were among the senior officials who participated in the programme.
Established in 1960, ZSTTC Podanur provides training to Signal and Telecommunication staff of Southern Railway and South Western Railway. Up to September 2026, the Centre had conducted 88 courses and trained 1,332 personnel during the year. Since 2024, it has also trained 622 staff members in Kavach, India’s indigenous Automatic Train Protection system.
The programme concluded with a cultural performance by trainees and faculty members.
