Railway invites bids for Mysuru-Chennai HSRC corridor's DPR

The Indian Railways has invited bids to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for the proposed 450-km Mysuru-Bengaluru-Chennai High-Speed Rail (bullet train) project connecting Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. According to the tender document, the contractor has to survey, identify overheads and overground utilities and identify power sourcing options for the substation. With the project, the distance between Mysuru and Chennai is expected to be covered in two and a half hours. At present, the journey takes seven hours via the Shatabdi Express, the fastest train on the route. Other than Bengaluru, the trains will have stoppages in Mandya, Channapatna, Bangarpet, Chittor, Arakkonam and Poonamallee. The tenders for civil works are likely to be issued in the next three months. This Mysuru-Chennai line is one of the six such high-speed rail projects proposed by the Railways. The project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, the country's first such high-speed corridor, is likely to be completed by early 2024. Trains are expected to reach a speed of over 300 km/hr on these corridors. The average speed on these corridors is going to be around 250 km/hr and the trains will have a capacity of 750 passengers while the fares are likely to be 1.5x higher than that of existing First-Class AC compartments. The stations are likely to come up at Chennai, Poonamallee and Arakkonam in Tamil Nadu, Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh, Bangarpet, Bengaluru, Channapatna, Mandya and Mysuru in Karnataka. A depot to maintain trains is being planned at Poonamallee.