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After successful trial, Indian Railways to get nine more Vande Bharat sleeper trains by Dec 2025

The Indian Railways is also looking for the production of 24-car Vande Bharat sleeper trains.

The first 16-car Vande Bharat sleeper train successfully completed trials on January 15, this year.

After the completion of the long-distance trial of the first Vande Bharat sleeper train, the Ministry of Railways has ordered to manufacture nine more such premium trains by the end of December next year. Officials said these 16-car trains will be produced by Integral Coach Factory (ICF), the Indian Railway’s manufacturing unit in Chennai.

Apart from this, the Indian Railways is also looking for the production of 24-car Vande Bharat sleeper trains. It had placed an order for propulsion electrics, the system where a train is powered by electricity, 50 rakes for the 24-car Vande Bharat sleeper train sets on December 17, last year. The order was awarded to two companies- Hyderabad-based Medha and Alstom- who would supply propulsion systems for 33 rakes and 17 rakes respectively over the two years.

Officials said that the full-scale production of the 24-car Vande Bharat Sleeper train may commence in 2026-27.

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Trails completed

The first 16-car Vande Bharat sleeper train successfully completed trials by the Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) on January 15, this year covering 540 km distance on Mumbai- Ahmedabad section. The manufacturing of the train was completed by the ICF last year on December 17 and it was also brought to Kota Division to test it for the short distance runs of 30-40 km at a high speed of 180 km per hour.

Officials said that before the operationalisation of India’s first Vande Bharat sleeper train, RDSO, the research wing of Indian Railways, will issue a final certificate after analysing the trial runs. The railway safety commissioner will evaluate the train at its maximum speed.

The 16-coach train is divided into three classes- AC 1st Class, AC 2-Tier, and AC 3-Tier. It has a total capacity of 1128 passengers and is equipped with crash buffers, deformation tubes, and a fire barrier wall.

Apart from this, Indian Railways has already signed two major contracts with national and international private players for the supply of Vande Bharat Sleeper trains. In June 2023, a consortium of Titagarh Rail Systems Ltd (TRSL) and state-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) won the contract for manufacturing 80 Vande Bharat sleeper trains at a cost of Rs. 24,000 crores.

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Similarly, on September 27, 2023, Indian Railways signed a contract with the Indo-Russia joint venture Kinet Railway Solutions Limited for the production of Vande Bharat Sleeper trains. It is an Indo-Russian special purpose vehicle (SPV) formed by the consortium of Russia’s largest rolling stock manufacturer Transmash holding

Dheeraj Mishra

Dheeraj Mishra is a Principal correspondent with The Indian Express, Business Bureau. He covers India’s two key ministries- Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. He frequently uses the Right to Information (RTI) Act for his stories, which have resulted in many impactful reports. ... Read More

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