Railway projects run on documents. Before a new line is built or a station yard is remodelled, engineers prepare alignment studies, Detailed Project Reports, Engineering Scale Plans, Signal Interlocking Plans, signalling tables and, increasingly, Kavach design documents. Each one depends on the documents before it, and each one has to be reviewed and approved before work can move forward.
Pragathi Rail was set up to make that chain of documents faster to prepare, easier to check and simpler to trace. Today we are launching our website and this blog, and introducing the platform at the centre of our work: RAPID, the Railways AI Platform for Intelligent Design.
Who we are
Pragathi Rail is a subsidiary of Vassar Labs we deliver AI/ML and GenAI solutions for the railway sector. Vassar Labs was founded by MIT and IIT alumni and today has more than 530 people building AI, IoT, GIS, cloud and digital twin solutions that turn complex data into decisions.
The problem we set out to solve
Railway design documents are tightly linked. The Engineering Scale Plan (ESP) of a yard feeds the Signal Interlocking Plan (SIP). The SIP feeds the signalling tables and the Kavach documents. Survey, GIS and LiDAR data feed the route alignment, which feeds the DPR.
When these documents are prepared separately, the same assets are entered again and again, versions drift apart, and issues are found late. A single change in a yard layout can mean weeks of rework across the signalling documents built on top of it.
What RAPID covers
RAPID brings these documents onto one platform, with AI generating first drafts and engineers reviewing every step. It currently covers:
- Route Planning & DPR: generates and ranks alignment alternatives against engineering, cost, land and environmental objectives, then compiles a Detailed Project Report with engineering drawings, quantities and costs.
- ESP (Engineering Scale Plan): generates layout options for new and remodelled yards, checks them against the Indian Railway Schedule of Dimensions, and compares design drawings with as-is site conditions.
- SIP: generates the Signal Interlocking Plan from an approved ESP for greenfield yards and remodelling, carrying valid signalling logic forward and highlighting what changed.
- Kavach: generates the Kavach design document set for a station from its SIP, gradient plan, signalling TOC and survey data.
- V&V (Verification & Validation): checks Kavach design outputs against their inputs and against engineering rules, producing pass/fail results and a QC report.
Underneath all of these sits a Digital Library: one validated, geo-referenced, version-controlled record of every asset in a station, built from the documents that already exist.
How engineers stay in control
RAPID is built on a simple principle: AI drafts, engineers decide. Extracted data is reviewed and corrected by a person before it is used. Generated designs move through structured, multi-level review before they are finalised. Every asset and every change is linked back to its source and its approval history.
RAPID prepares and structures engineering documentation for engineering review and the applicable approval process. It does not itself confer statutory approval. That responsibility remains with railway engineers and the relevant authorities.
Developed with RDSO for Kavach
Our Kavach design document generation system was developed in response to an Expression of Interest released by RDSO to reduce design generation time. Over seven months, the solution was reviewed by the EOI committee, tested with more than 300 RDSO-selected stations, and refined with RDSO’s feedback, leading to a Letter of Approval.
Explore the RAPID platform, or read our next article: Where Railway Design Projects Lose Time.