The interior of a Vande Bharat sleeper train under production at BEML in Bengaluru.
Credit: DH PHOTO
Bengaluru: The South Western Railway (SWR) has extended the deadline for submitting bids to develop a depot to maintain Vande Bharat sleeper trains at Thanisandra in northeastern Bengaluru.
In July, the SWR's Construction Organisation invited e-tenders for Requests For Proposal (RFPs) to establish the facility on the Engineering, Construction and Procurement (ECP) mode.
The deadline, earlier fixed at November 21, has now been revised to December 12.
The facility, estimated to cost Rs 227.94 crore, is one of five planned across India to maintain Vande Bharat sleeper trains, which are still under manufacturing. It will maintain 16-coach trains.
The site lies between the Channasandra and Yelahanka railway stations, close to the erstwhile Thanisandra railway station, that shut down a decade ago.
The Construction Organisation is also extending the MEMU shed at Banaswadi to maintain Vande Bharat seater trains and upgrading maintenance infrastructure at SMVT Bengaluru.
The shed extension will cost Rs 50 crore and the work at SMVT Bengaluru Rs 123 crore.
The Banaswadi MEMU shed, currently 270 metres long, can accommodate only 8-12-coach Vande Bharat trains. It is being extended by 130 metres. SMVT Bengaluru is getting a fourth pitline.
Bengaluru-headquartered PSU BEML has manufactured two prototype Vande Bharat sleeper trains under an order from Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai, but their rollout has been delayed due to technical reasons.
A BEML spokesperson said the work was progressing at full steam, but declined to give details.
KN Krishna Prasad of the Karnataka Railway Vedike welcomed the proposed maintenance depot at Thanisandra, but sought faster construction. He hoped that the facility would help speed up the introduction of Vande Bharat sleeper trains in Karnataka, a state that usually lags in getting premium rail services.