Almost every studying course has laboratories where students study the purpose, design and operation of the corresponding units of electrical and mechanical parts of electric rolling stock — including train safety devices. Students experimentally determine their parameters and characteristics. The laboratories are periodically restocked with new samples of technology, including modern electronic devices, diagnostic complexes, computers, etc.
The software of the computerized laboratory of information technologies includes practically all AWPs used in the locomotive economy. The department carries out a large amount of work to improve the qualifications of specialists and managers of the locomotive economy and railways — primarily the West Siberian railway.
Serious attention is paid to teaching students and trainees with advanced training courses in new technologies using modern equipment that has not been implemented anywhere yet, even in industry. In its turn, teaching with new technologies encourages students to apply those technologies in studying other courses and in implementing them in course and diploma projects. Laboratory works, guidelines for them and subsequent reporting are normally carried out in electronic form. However, computer analysis of experimental results is based not only on mathematical modeling, but also on real physical processes occurring during operating on laboratory and industrial equipment.
Today the department has a training ground of the operating technology at the university with assigned to the department operating sections of VL10 and VL80S electric locomotives, two cars of the ED6 electric train, overhauled to be used as classrooms and equipped with modern multimedia devices. Since 2009 a lecture room equipped with multimedia devices has been assigned to the department. It allows holding lectures at a new level of quality. Since 2014 all laboratories of the department have also been equipped with multimedia devices.
In 2017, the department opened a "High-speed ground transport" laboratory, designed to train students of the namesake program. This lab is equipped with a training simulator of the high-speed electric train "Sapsan", laboratory devices and models of devices for modern high-speed electric transport and electric rolling stock on a magnetic levitation.
Owing to the facilities of the testing grounds of the operating technology, as well as diversity of the departmental laboratory base (some of which has no analogues among railway universities), we find additional opportunities to improve the quality of teaching courses at our department using modern technologies in educational process.