Alongside Union Minister Piyush Goyal, Chief Minister of Gujarat, Vijay Rupani will be dedicating India’s first railway university, National Rail and Transportation Institute (NRTI) on 15 December, in Vadodara.

After Russia and China, India is the only country to have a university dedicated to railways. About 103 students from 20 different states in India have taken up their places in the first batch of NRTI. The university has two undergraduate courses that are fully residential, viz, B.Sc in Transportation Technology, and BBA in Transportation Management.

The courses commenced in September this year. The university plans to begin the masters programme beginning the 2019-20 academic year. The subjects of study will include areas like Transport Policy and Economics, Systems Design, Transport Systems Engineering etc.

Deccan Herald quoted a railway official as saying, ‘It is a matter of great pride that such a unique institute offering such diverse courses will be dedicated to the nation on December 15.”

Rs 421 crore has been sanctioned by the Ministry of Railways for the project that will go on for the next five years. The 110-acre land in Vadodara’s Waghodiya Taluka has been identified for the university. Government of Gujarat is yet to process the land acquisition for the project.