The commute for workers who travel between Bangalore City railway station and nearby towns every day is likely to become easier in the coming months with the completion of a maintenance shed that will enable South Western Railways to introduce more electric trains.
Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit (MEMU) trains to Ramanagaram will benefit thousands of workers who travel every day between the two stations.
Currently, passengers are forced to use trains headed to Mysuru for their daily commute. But diesel locomotives are not adapted to travelling shorter distances where MEMU trains have an advantage because of faster acceleration and turnaround times.
The project, which would help South Western Railways, to run more MEMU trains as suburban services, is likely to be completed next month.
The project, tenders for which were called in 2014, had stalled midway for a few months before work resumed again.
The shed for MEMU trains at Banaswadi railway station was announced along with three MEMU services to Ramanagaram. The construction of the maintenance shed will allow the Railways to improve the turnaround time for MEMU trains from weekly maintenance runs and would also allow for increased capacity. The shed, which will have an extra loop line, was incomplete even when the civil works and track laying had been completed.
However, electrical and overhead electrical work had been delayed which pushed the project beyond its completion dates.
“We have faced some delay with the completion of the project but the work has resumed. We hope to complete the shed by November,” said a senior official with South Western Railways.
The shed, once operational, can also help SWR operate more MEMU services to other suburban centres where electrification of lines has been carried out.
Currently, there is a MEMU service between Bengaluru and Marikuppam which has to be serviced outside the city every week which takes away one day of possible operations.
TRACK RECORD
Distance between Bangalore City and Ramanagaram: around 45 km
Stops for current passenger trains between the two stations:
Nayandahalli
Jnana Bharathi
Kengeri
Hejjala
Bidadi
Ketohalli
