BENGALURU: The Bengaluru Railway Division has readied 40 quarantine coaches to meet any exigencies arising in future due to the spread of COVID-19 in the City. With each modified coach able to house 8 beds, a total of 320 isolation beds are now ready.
While Bengaluru was initially told to ready 18 coaches, the number was later increased to 60 so that a total of 480 beds would be in place. These special coaches are being readied at the coaching depots of both Yesvantpur and Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna railway stations. The huge advantage is these coaches have a loco attached and so can be used as a mobile unit that can be shifted to different locations depending on demand.
Senior Divisional Mechanical Engineer Jayant Ramachandran told The New Indian Express, “The 40 isolation coaches are ready and we are now putting up mosquito nets at windows, curtains and putting in place buckets inside bathrooms. These arrived only on Monday and will be placed in no time.”
The Railway Board had asked for such coaches to be created from spare ones which were 15 years old and above. Explaining the work involved, Ramachandran said the middle berth was removed in each sleeper compartment so that a proper bed can be created.
“Each coach now has nine beds but the first one has been earmarked as a medical room. So we calculate it as 8 new beds in each coach. The Indian toilet has been converted into a bathroom,” he explained. Each coach costs us nearly Rs 40,000 to prepare,” he said.
Asked if oxygen cylinders and ventilators have been installed, Ramachandran said they would be brought in only just before the coach was put into use.