KORAIL wins first ADB contract, bringing digital railway expertise to Azerbaijan

[Financial News] KORAIL (the Korea Railroad Corporation) will share Korea’s experience in digital railway operations with Azerbaijan through its first project won from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Six managers from Azerbaijan Railways will stay in Korea for five days, through the 23rd, to receive training. The program combines lectures on condition-based maintenance (CBM) and an AI- and big-data-powered safety management platform with visits to control and maintenance facilities.
According to KORAIL on the 20th, the training is part of the ADB project “Developing Capabilities for the Digitalization of Azerbaijan Railways,” which KORAIL won and is running as an invitation program in Korea. The opening ceremony was held at Seoul Station the previous day, with around 10 officials from railway organizations in both countries in attendance.
The project is part of the ADB’s Technical Assistance (TA) program. Technical assistance is a mechanism through which specialized institutions provide advice and training to developing countries and others, helping them develop their industries and raise their technological capabilities. Since the 19th, KORAIL has been sharing with the Azerbaijani side the experience and key examples Korea’s railway system has accumulated through its digital transformation.
The training consists of lectures and site visits. The lectures cover CBM technology, which diagnoses the condition of equipment in real time to determine when maintenance is needed, as well as safety management platforms using AI and big data. The delegation will visit the IT Operations Center, the Railway Traffic Control Center and the Goyang KTX depot in turn to see firsthand how digital technology is used in actual railway operations.
KORAIL plans to use this training as a stepping stone to increase the number of international organizations it works with and seek new opportunities for overseas exchanges.
Since opening the International Railway Training Center in 2008, KORAIL has shared its railway operating know-how with 58 countries. In January last year, it was selected to carry out the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s official development assistance (ODA) project, “Paraguay Transportation Management Capacity-Building Project,” and organized an invitation-based training program for six Paraguayan transport officials. This June, as the chairing institution for the International Union of Railways (UIC) Asia-Pacific region, it held the 40th UIC Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly in Seoul, where participants discussed strengthening cooperation on AI-based safety management, among other issues.
“We will continue to work actively with international organizations and other relevant institutions to promote K-Rail’s advanced technological capabilities and excellence around the world,” said Kim Gwang-mo, head of KORAIL’s Future Division.

[email protected] Jeong Gyeong-su Reporter