NHSRCL issues letter of acceptance for depot construction in Thane for Bullet Train project

New Delhi [India], January 16 : National High-Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRCL) has issued a letter of acceptance to Dineshchandra-DMRC JV for the design and construction of a rolling stock depot at Thane in Maharashtra as part of Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train project.
The Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Corridor (Bullet Train Project) will be serviced by three rolling stock depots located at Sabarmati and Surat in Gujarat and Thane in Maharashtra, a release said. The depots are being designed based on the experience of Shinkansen depots in Japan.
Thane Depot will spread over an area of about 55 hectares and will have facilities for the upkeep and light maintenance of the trainsets. Initially, four inspection lines and 10 stabling lines will be constructed, which will increase to 8 and 31 respectively in future, the release said.
It said about 200 numbers of 40 types of depot machinery, including bogie exchange machines, underfloor wheel re-profiling machines, testers and data readers, ultrasonic flaw detectors, trainset washing plants - that will be used for the maintenance of the high-speed train sets as per Shinkansen standards at the depot - are being procured from Japan.
Besides, Thane Rolling Stock Depot, two more depots at Sabarmati and Surat are under construction in Gujarat for the corridor.
The Sabarmati Rolling Stock Depot will be the largest depot, with an area of about 83 hectares. It will have state-of-the-art equipment for both light and heavy maintenance of trainsets, including inspection bays, washing plant, workshop, sheds, stabling lines. This depot will have 10 stabling lines, which will be further increased to 29 lines in the future.
An official of NHSRCL informed that the work for the construction of the Sabarmati Depot, awarded to Sojiz-L&T consortium, has commenced from January 5, 2023.
The work of excavation for the Administration Building, a large RCC building, has been completed. The design approvals for the steel structures, where the inspection bays, pits, and depot machineries, for trainset maintenance and overhaul shall be located, are under progress. The land preparation work for the depot has already been completed under another contract.
The official also informed that another depot is being constructed in Surat with an area of about 40 hectares. This depot will receive the initial trainsets from Japan and will have the basic facilities for the commissioning of these trainsets.
Surat Depot is situated approximately two km from the planned under-construction Surat HSR Station. Daily and regular inspections of rolling stock will be carried out in the depot premises, the release said.
During the start of operation, this depot will be capable of accommodating two trainsets for maintenance purposes (one track for inspection and one track for stabling). The same is planned to increase in the future to two tracks for inspection and four tracks for stabling. In addition to inspection, emergency repair and wheel re-profiling facilities are also being provided.
The release said that the work at the Surat Depot awarded to L&T is progressing well. The steel sheds have been erected, and the finishing works are under execution. Few machineries have been received at site, including one machine from Japan. The work of track laying shall commence soon under the track package contract.
The depots on MAHSR will have systems in place for proper water resource management. The water requirement of Sabarmati depot will almost fully be met by harvesting rooftop rainwater and water drawn from bore wells. There will be only a little dependence on the municipal supply. The rooftop rainwater shall be collected and stored in underground storage tanks within the depot premises. It shall then be treated and made fit for use.
The surface run-off storm water shall be channelized into open water reservoirs, also located within the depot premises, and shall also be used for recharging the aquifers. The sewage and effluent generated from trainsets and within the depot shall be treated and recycled in modern sewage treatment and effluent treatment plants. This recycled water will meet almost 70 per cent of the overall depot's water requirement, the release said.
Suitable rooftop rainwater and storm water storage, as well as sewage treatment and effluent treatment plants, shall also be provided at Thane Depot.
Garbage handling facilities shall be provided at the Sabarmati and Thane depots for segregation, compaction, and handling of garbage generated in the trains as well as in the depot.
The release said the green depots have been designed with optimum land utilisation in consideration of the present workload and future expansion.
The layout of the different facilities in depots will provide proper sequence and efficient workflow.
It said depots will be designed in consideration of noise control, dust suppression, and proper ventilation to provide a healthy working environment. Natural lighting shall be provided in addition to LED-based artificial lighting systems. Modern material handling and storage systems (with inventory management) will be provided.