Overview
The Vande Bharat Express trains, introduced in 2019 on the Delhi-Varanasi route and since then expanded to nine other routes, are set to receive an upgrade. Sudhanshu Mani, who is also known as the innovator of Vande Bharat Express trains, believes that with the potential to run at 200 kmph, the aluminium trains will revolutionize Indian Railways.
According to Sudhanshu Mani, former GM of Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai, the Vande Bharat aluminium trains will be a game-changer for the Indian Railways. The national transporter is aiming to produce 100 sets of these trains in the coming years, which will be a first for them. The technical bids for the project, which are estimated to cost Rs 30,000 crore, were recently submitted.
Two leading railway equipment manufacturers, major Swiss Stadler in collaboration with Medha Servo and France's Alstom, have submitted bids to produce the aluminium train sets in India. The tender specifies that the 100 train sets will be sleeper trains.
The existing Vande Bharat trains are air-conditioned chair cars that are superior to Shatabdi Express trains in terms of features. They are semi-high-speed self-propelled trains that can run at 160 kmph. Indian Railways aims to introduce the sleeper version of the Vande Bharat trains, which will be a more premium alternative to the Rajdhani Express trains. The national transporter also hopes to acquire the expertise to produce aluminium trains, which are becoming increasingly prevalent worldwide.
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