Suburban service to begin in October first week
BENGALURU: The suburban rail service for the City is finally set to become a reality. A total of 24 coaches that would be required to ready two trains to kickstart the service have reached Banaswadi from Kapurthala, with the final batch arriving on Thursday. The first pair of MEMUs will run on the Bengaluru and Marikuppam route when operations commence.
The receipt of the coaches at Banaswadi depot from the Rail Coach Factory was independently confirmed by three top officials to Express. A senior official told Express, “We have now got the coaches required to form two Mainline Multiple Electric Unit (MEMU) rakes. We plan to start the first of our proposed suburban services in the first week of October.”
The first instalment comprising eight coaches arrived on August 20, the second set of eight coaches on September 2 and the final eight coaches came on Thursday, he said. “With each MEMU train set to have 12 coaches, we will now begin the process of readying two trains,” the official said.
“The 24 coaches were procured at a total cost of Rs 66 crore. We will be purchasing a total of 118 coaches with three more 8-coach instalments expected in December or January,” another official said.
The State government has already released Rs 327.79 crore for purchasing coaches as well as another Rs 29.45 crore for upgradation of maintenance facilities for stabling of the MEMU trains at Banaswadi.
How is a MEMU different ?
The present trains along this sector which are always packed have a maximum capacity of 1,800 passengers. “Each of the MEMU trains can carry upto 2,400 passengers. It will be much faster than the conventional rake since the pulling power will be very high. Three engines will propel each of the trains,” the official said. The driver at one end will control all of them.
“Even if there is a failure of one engine, the presence of three engines ensures that the train does not stop its journey midway,” said an operations official. The existing passenger train services running along the Bengaluru-Bangarpet-Marikuppam route will be replaced with the new MEMU pair. MEMUs run on electricity so are more eco-friendly than passenger trains.
The pairs of services running between the two sections which will get replaced initially
Departure from Bangarpet: 5.30 am; Arrival at Marikuppam: 6.05 am
Departure from Marikuppam: 6.25 am; Arrival at Bangarpet: 7 am; Arrival at Bengaluru: 9.15 am
Departure from Bengaluru: 7 am; Arrival at Marikuppam: 9.30 am
Departure from Marikuppam: 9.50 am; Arrival at Bengaluru: 10.25 am
Departure from Bangarpet: 1 pm; Arrival at Marikuppam: 1.35 pm
Departure from Marikuppam: 2 pm; Arrival at Bangarpet: 2.35 pm; at Bengaluru: 5 pm
Departure from Bengaluru: 6 pm; Arrival at Marikuppam: 8.35 pm
Departure from Marikuppam: 8.50 pm; Arrival at Bengaluru: 9.25 pm