Railway approves procurement of 238 Vande Bharat Metro rakes for Mumbai

The Railway Board on Friday approved the procurement of 238 Vande Bharat Metro trains for Mumbai, senior Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) officials said.

These rakes will be procured under the ambitious Mumbai Urban Transport Project-III (MUTP-III) and 3A (MUTP-3A), which are being helmed by the Railway ministry and the Maharashtra government to augment the capacity of the metropolis' suburban train network, they added.

"These trains will be manufactured by the technology partner ensuring Make in India guidelines of the Centre's Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade. The procurement will be undertaken by MRVC and it will be with maintenance requirements spanning 35 years," said an MRVC spokesperson.

Two depots for maintenance of the rakes already approved under MUTP-III and 3A will be set up by the technology partner, the official added.

MUTP-III and MUTP-3A projects are worth Rs 10,947 crore and Rs 33,690 crore respectively.

As per the railways, Vande Bharat Metro will be a state-of-the-art rake that will be deployed for short distances to cover cities around 100 kilometres apart.