BENGALURU: The Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project (BSRP) will open up two lines partially for operations by first quarter of 2027. It would begin operations with 3-coach trains with a 10-min frequency which would be brought down to 5 minutes in future, said sources.
The Chikkabanavara-Yesvantpur stretching 8 km in Corridor-II would be opened to the public in December 2026 and after four months, the Heelalige to Benniganahalli extending to 17 km in Corridor-IV would be thrown open. All the four corridors of BSRP running 148 km would be opened by December 2028 or latest by June 2029, they said.
“With the Karnataka Cabinet last week approving the equity model for the procurement of the 306 coaches for the BSRP Project, its implementing agency, K-RIDE is now awaiting the Government Order (GO) from the State to proceed further,” sources added. Under the equity model, the Rs 4270 crore-project will be funded 50% each by Karnataka government and the Railways. The PPP model for coaches has been shelved.
A senior official told TNIE, “We are ready with the tender to be called in connection with the 306 coaches. As soon as the order reaches our hands, we will be writing to the Railway Board to get its nod regarding the 50% funding. As soon as its approval is obtained, we can float the tender.”
The tender would be open for competitive bidding. The bidder will have to present five different designs of the coach and K-RIDE would select one of them. “The plan is to have three-car trains initially and later convert them to six-car ones on the lines of Bengaluru Metro,” he said.
Asked if the launch of the lines would not be bogged down by shortage of trains , another official said, “We plan to launch only two at-grade stretches in both the corridors initially. The elevated stretches would take a little longer to complete. We hope to receive between 8 and 10 train sets when opening the first stretch and trains would be supplied to us every month,” he added. K-RIDE would receive at least 60 coaches each year.
Between 20% and 25% of the work is completed on the proposed stretches. “The earthmovers are readying the ground. Laying of tracks, signalling and other infrastructure works would follow,” the officials said. “Our present operational plan is to have a headway of 5 minutes between each trip with trains to be operated from 4.30 am to 11.30 pm,” he said.
The coaches would be more on the lines of Delhi Metro. “Each coach can carry 300 passengers with 80 seated. There would be glass racks above the seats, the width of the coaches will be 3.2 metres wide and seats would be longitudinal like in buses,” he elaborated.
Driverless coaches have been ruled out since 100 out of 148 kms of the project are at ground level and adjacent to railway tracks, the official explained. “Trespassing by public or animals could happen endangering lives,” he said.