Bengaluru, Apr 2 (IANS): The South Western Railway (SWR) zone will convert 312 coaches into isolation wards to provide Covid quarantine facilities, an official said on Wednesday.

"In a bid to increase the country's capacity for isolation facilities, the Railways is converting sleeper class coaches into Covid isolation wards by modifying the coaches as per the prototype issued by the Railway Board," an SWR spokesperson said in a statement.

The railway zone said the coach quarantine facilities are clean, sanitized with hygienic surroundings for patients to comfortably recover.

The coaches will be equipped with basic facilities needed according to medical guidelines and fixed with mobile and laptop charging points.

Converted into an eight-berth isolation ward, the coaches will have sufficient space for paramedics and also mosquito nets.

Hubbali railway workshop will convert 120 coaches, Mysuru 120, Hubbali depot 18, Bengaluru depot 18, Yeshwantpur depot 18 and Mysuru depot 18.