Electric power supply of railways

1931-1961: Tomsk period

The academic building of Tomsk Electromechanical Institute of Railway Transport Engineers in 30s

1935 — The department “Electric power supply of electric railways” was organized at the faculty “Electrification of Railways”. Evgeny Mikhailovich Pukhov was appointed as the first head of the department.

1936 — The department “Electric power supply of electric railways” joined the department “Rolling stock” and they were named “Rolling stock and power supply of electric railways”. Alexander Mikhailovich Dyadkov was appointed a head of the department. In September of the same year the Faculty “Electrification of Railways” was closed. All majors of the department were combined into one department named “Electrical Engineering”.

1937 — The first electrical engineers graduated. An engineering degree was awarded to 52 students. Most of the graduates were sent to electrified sections of the Kirov, Perm, Sverdlovsk and Tomsk railways.

In 1940 the building of the former administration of Tomsk Railway was made over for the Institute

1940 — The Department “Electrical Engineering” was transformed into the Department “Electric Power Economy”, headed by I. Ya. Ryzhkovsky.

1942 — A new faculty was opened - “Power engineering”, where the department was transferred in 1944.

1946 — The department “Electric Power Economy” was divided into two parts: “Electric Traction” and “Electric Stations”. The first department was chaired by A. M. Dyadkov, and N. S. Poizner was appointed the head of the second one.

1953 — The faculty of Electric Transport stood out from the faculty “Power engineering”. The great part in organizing the new unit was played by A. M. Dyadkov, who did everything possible to maintain the training of specialists in railway electric traction with numerous reorganizations of the program.

1956 — A postgraduate program was opened at the Department “Electric Stations”, and in 1957 all courses “Railway Electric Power Supply” major were transferred to the same department.

1958 — The Department “Electric Stations” was renamed into the Department “Power Supply of Electric Railways”, which was headed by Yu. E. Nebolyubov, who played a large role not only in the development of the department, but also in the formation of the Siberian scientific school of railway electricians.

1961-2006: Omsk period

The main building of the Omsk Institute of Railway Transport Engineers in 1961

1961 — Tomsk Electromechanical Institute of Railway Transport Engineers was moved to Omsk. A new period began in the development of the department.

1963 — Mikhail Georgievich Shalimov was appointed the head of the department. In the following years he did a lot for the development of the department and its transformation into one of the leading units of higher educational establishments of the Ministry of Railways of the Russian Federation, which trained electrical engineers.

1977 — Two departments were formed on the basis of the department “Power supply of electric railways”: “Traction substations and their automation” and “Electric power supply systems of electric railways”. The first was headed by M. G. Shalimov, who later transferred the leadership of the department to Ye. I. Kordyukov. V. P. Mikheev became a head of the second department.

1988 — There was opened a branch of the department at the Omsk traction substation. It allowed bringing the educational process closer to production. Research work was being activated.

A research laboratory for the quality of electric energy was created at the department “Traction substations and their automation”. The result of this was the development and implementation of multi-pulse rectifiers, single-section smoothing filter circuits, low-power rectifier transformers, multifunctional optimizing devices on the West Siberian Railway.

The department “Electric power supply systems of electric railways” also developed intensively. Close to the Gustafyevo station (23 km from the station Omsk) a unique training and research site for current collection devices was created. It included an experimental section of the track 2.5 km long and high-speed mobile units for testing all types of current collectors and suspensions at speeds up to 500 km/h. New current collection devices for the main railways, high-speed ground transport with magnetic suspension were created.

1989 — Post-doctoral programs were opened at two departments under the scientific supervision of professors M. G. Shalimov and V. P. Mikheev, which made it possible to prepare doctors of sciences more effectively directly in their teams.

1994 — A joint department “Railway Electric Power Supply” was re-created on the basis of the departments “Traction substations and their automation” and “Electric power supply systems of electric railways”. It became the largest among similar departments of higher educational establishments of the Ministry of Railways of the Russian Federation. Gennady Petrovich Maslov was elected its head.

2000 — German Samsonovich Magay became a head of the department. He put a lot of effort into the complex process of reconstruction of the departmental laboratory complexes.

2006 — Oleg Alekseevich Sidorov became a head of the department. He has being heading the department to the present.

Heads of the department in the period from 1936–2006

Dyadkov Alexander Mikhailovich Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor headed the department from 1936–1946	Nebolyubov Yury Evgenyevich Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor headed the department from 1948–1963	Novitsky Viktor Mikhailovich Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor headed the department from 1953–1955	Shalimov Mikhail Georgievich Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor headed the department from 1963–1983
Kordyukov Evgeny Ivanovich Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor headed the department “Traction substations and their automation” from 1963–1983	Mikheev Viktor Petrovich Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor headed the department “Electric power supply systems of electric railways” from 1977–1995	Maslov Gennady Petrovich Doctor of Technical Sciences,  Professor headed the department from 1995–2000	Magay German Samsonovich Candidate of Technical Sciences,  Associate Professor  headed the department rom 2000–2006

The main research areas of the department are as follows::

• Improving the technical and economic indicators of converting units and smoothing filter circuits of traction DC substations.



• Improving the reliability of operation and improving the quality of electric energy in the electric traction network of alternating current.



• Development and improvement of current collection devices of the Moscow monorail transport system and metro.



• Improving the designs of contact suspensions and current collectors of high-speed electric transport.



• Improving the testing methods of contact suspensions on the Moscow – St. Petersburg line to ensure the movement of the high-speed “Sapsan” train.




• Development of a main current collector for use on lines with a modernized infrastructure of the current collection system (work is being carried out with financial support from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation).

The department has a postgraduate program, the supervisors of which are Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor Oleg Alekseevich Sidorov, Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate professor Yury Vladimirovich Kondratyev and Doctor of Technical Sciences, Associate professor Alexander Nikolaevich Smerdin. The head of the PhD program is Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor Oleg Alekseevich Sidorov. Students are actively involved in scientific work. Relations with the Siberian region railways are kept in touch.

Planning and organization of the educational process is carried out on the basis of Federal State Educational Standards of higher education.

All laboratory work is carried out in the laboratories equipped with full-scale samples and models of power supply and electric power devices, training and research simulators, real production equipment, which are maintained in proper working conditions and updated as necessary.

Every year teachers update lecture courses, develop business game scenarios. There is a practice of supervising young teachers. PhD students are being prepared for teaching. Educational work with students is carried out in accordance with the educational plan of the university and the department, as well as according to the individual teaching working plans.

The department provides training in the following majors:

• 23.05.05 Railway Traffic Support Systems, specialization “Railway Electric Power Supply” (graduate qualification – railway engineer) in intramural and extramural forms of study, term of study – 5 years and 5 years 8 months respectively;
• 13.03.02 Electric Power and Electrical Engineering (graduate qualification – bachelor) in intramural form of study, term of study – 4 years;
• 13.04.02 Electric Power and Electrical Engineering (graduate qualification – master) in intramural and extramural forms of study, term of study – 2 years and 2 years 6 months respectively.

Throughout its history the department has trained more than 4,000 electrical engineers, who have made a great contribution to the electrification of railway transport. Among them are large managers and production heads: V. V. Munkin, P. I. Demidov, N. S. Berezutsky, V. N. Bydantsev, Yu. F. Markov, S. S. Voskresensky, D. F. Romashko, V. K. Mayorov, V. I. Ponomarev, B. P. Vokhmentsev, B. V. Korkin, A. P. Gukun, V. D. Tsybankov, Yu. A. Kozyanoi, V. G. Nazarenko, B. V. Plohotnyuk, E. Yu. Chudarov, A. V. Akulov, A. R. Gergert, E. M. Derbilov et al.

The department graduates of different years are doctors of sciences A. T. Burkov, G. N. Varfolomeev, A. I. Zaitsev, Yu. V. Tselebrovsky and others.

The department provides training in the following majors:

• 23.05.05 Railway Traffic Support Systems, specialization “Railway Electric Power Supply” (graduate qualification – railway engineer) in intramural and extramural forms of study, term of study – 5 years and 5 years 8 months respectively;
• 13.03.02 Electric Power and Electrical Engineering (graduate qualification – bachelor) in intramural form of study, term of study – 4 years;
• 13.04.02 Electric Power and Electrical Engineering (graduate qualification – master) in intramural and extramural forms of study, term of study – 2 years and 2 years 6 months respectively.

There are founded and successfully operated specialized educational and scientific laboratories and complexes at the department. Classes are held with students, graduate students and trainees of the Institute for Advanced Training and Retraining.

The laboratories are equipped with modern equipment, measuring instruments, operating equipment and models.

Laboratory “Electronics and Converters in Electric Power Supply” named after Professor B. S. Barkovsky	Laboratory “Signaling of Electric Power Supply Systems”	Laboratory “Mathematical Modeling in Electric Power Supply Systems”
Laboratory “Electric Power Supply of Railways and Industrial Enterprises” named after Professor G. P. Maslov	Laboratory complex “Overhead Electric Constructions, Power Transmission and Current Collection Lines” named after Professor V. P. Mikheev	Laboratory “Installation and Operation of Electric Power Supply Devices”
Engineering Workshop Laboratory	Laboratory Training and Research Complex “Traction and Transformer Substations” named after Professor M. G. Shalimov	Laboratory “Relay Protection”
Laboratory “High Voltage Engineering and Electrical Engineering Materials”