K-RIDE to procure 50 six-coach trains for Bengaluru Suburban Rail on PPP model

Bengaluru, India (Urban Transport News): The Rail Infrastructure Development Company of Karnataka Limited (K-RIDE) is planning to procure 300 coaches (50 six-coach trains) for the 148-km Bengaluru suburban rail network (four corridors). The procurement will be done on the PPP model, Due to this, the project cost would reduce from Rs 18,621 crore to Rs 15,767 crore.

The plan was revealed by K-RIDE during a stakeholders’ conference recently organized in the city for rolling stock procurement on a PPP basis. A total of 18 financial institutions/banks as well as 12 rolling stock manufacturers, including Alstom, Hyundai Rotem, Siemens, Hitachi Rail Ltd, etc. participated in the conference.

“This is the first time rolling stock is being inducted under PPP basis on a large scale and for long term. Several manufacturers have shown interest, so we asked them to directly participate in the tender. But some want to tie up or form JVs with financial institutions to participate in the tender,” said Amit Garg, Managing Director at K-RIDE.

With the aim to reduce the high upfront system procurement cost, K-RIDE, which is implementing the suburban rail project, will lease rolling stock from private firms instead of purchasing it. 

The selected firm will have to operate and maintain rolling stock for 30-35 years. “It will also have to deploy loco-pilot for each of the 50 trains. We will pay the firm on the basis of hourly running of train sets for passenger operations,” said Garg adding that it will take at least three years for rolling stock manufacturers to supply these coaches, so we need to start the process now and complete it without delay.

K-RIDE will soon invite expression of interest/request for quotation from firms by June end. Following this, shortlisted firms will be asked to participate in the request for proposal (RFP) which involves technical and financial bids.

According to the plan. the K-RIDE will operate six-coach trains for 19 hours a day (5 am to midnight) on Bengaluru suburban rail network. The operational speed of a train will be 32-40kmph. It will deploy additional trains based on demand, especially during peak hours. The total number of coaches required for the 4 suburban rail corridors is likely to be 342 in 2025, 396 in 2031, and 564 in 2041.

The Rs 15,767 crore Bengaluru Suburban Rail project will have four corridors namely KSR Bengaluru City - Devanahalli, Baiyyappanahalli Terminal - Chikkabanavara, Kengeri - White Field and Heelalige - Rajankunte with a total length of 148.17 km.

The consortium comprising EGIS Rail, AECOM and Louis Berger Group has been appointed as General Consultants (GC) for the implementation of the Bengaluru Suburban Rail project.