New Delhi
The country’s first high-speed bullet train is going to be built in Bengaluru, a city that has emerged as an IT hub. The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) invited tenders for the manufacture of two chair-car high-speed trains on September 5. The stainless steel carbody trains will have a maximum speed of 280 kmph and an operational speed of 250 kmph. The last date for bid submission was 5 September. The train will have seven bogies with standard 3+2 seating arrangement and one executive bogie with 2+2 seating. According to sources, the total seating capacity is expected to be around 174. Depending on passenger demand, 12 or 16 more bogies may be added to the train in future. With an eye on export markets such as Southeast Asia and Africa, the trains will be built for standard gauge tracks.
According to media reports, the train will be manufactured at BEML’s Bengaluru plant. U Subba Rao, general manager of Integral Coach Factory, Chennai, said that only BEML has submitted a bid to build two eight-car train sets, and the tender will be finalised in a week. Since it is a small order for only two trains, other rolling stock manufacturers were not keen to participate. Our target is to complete the manufacturing work in 2.5 years.
Initially, the line was expected to run Japanese Shinkansen trains (operational speed of 320 kmph). However, due to the high price quoted by Japanese firms in bidding, the Union Railway Ministry decided to develop high-speed trains domestically. Medha will now develop the propulsion technology capable of 250 kmph, while BEML will develop the carbody structure to withstand such speeds. BEML-Medha is expected to hire a European design consultant for the project.
