Green Rolling Stock Depots with state-of-the-art Maintenance Equipment
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. The depots are being designed, based on the experience of Shinkansen depots in Japan.
NHSRCL has issued Letter of Acceptance for ‘Design and Construction of Thane Rolling Stock Depot’ in the state of Maharashtra to M/s Dineshchandra- DMRC JV. The package includes Civil works, Inspection sheds, maintenance Depot and installation, Testing and Commissioning of Maintenance facilities.
The Thane depot will spread over in an area of about 55 hectares and will have facilities for the upkeep and light maintenance of the trainsets. Initially 4 inspection lines and 10 stabling lines will be constructed, which will increase to 8 and 31 respectively in future.
About 200 nos. of 40 types of depot machineries, including bogie exchange machine, underfloor wheel re-profiling machine, testers and data readers, ultrasonic flaw detectors, trainset washing plant, etc., that will be used for the maintenance of the high speed train sets as per Shinkansen standard at the depot are being procured from Japan.
Besides, Thane Rolling Stock depot two more depots at Sabarmati and Surat, are under construction in the state of 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 with inspection bays, washing plant, workshop, sheds, stabling lines, etc. This depot will have 10 stabling lines which will be further increased to 29 lines in future.
The work for the construction of the Sabarmati Depot, awarded to M/s Sojiz-L&T consortium has commenced from 05.01.2023. 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 works for the depot have already been completed under another contract.
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 2 kms from the planned under-construction Surat HSR Station. Daily and regular inspection of Rolling Stock will be carried out in the depot premises. During the start of operation, this depot will be capable of accommodating two trainsets for maintenance purpose (one track for inspection and one track for stabling). The same is planned to increase in 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 works at the Surat Depot awarded to M/s L&T are 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 be commenced soon under the track package contract.
Water Resource Management in the Depots
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 rain water and from water drawn from bore wells. There will be only little dependence on the municipal supply. The rooftop rain water 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 shall meet almost 70% of the overall depot’s water requirement.
Suitable rooftop rain water and storm water storage as well as sewage treatment and effluent treatment plants shall also be provided at Thane depot.
Garbage Handing Facility: It 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.
Salient features of the Green Depots
- The depots have been designed with optimum land utilization in consideration of present work load and also future expansion
- The layout of the different facilities in depots will provide proper sequence and efficient work flow
- Depots will provide a safe, comfortable and efficient working environment for the staff with wide, obstruction free pathways and inspection decks
- Sheds / buildings will be designed so that solar panels can be installed in future
- Depots will be designed in consideration of noise control, dust suppression and proper ventilation to provide 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.
