Indian Railways to soon launch sleeper coaches in Vande Bharat trains

Vande Bharat trains will soon be available with sleeper coaches, which will be beneficial for long-haul passengers. The customers have appreciated the Vande Bharat experience

Vande Bharat trains will soon feature sleeper coaches for long-haul passengers. Secretary of the Railway Board, Milind Deouskar, shared the information at the International Rail Conference, highlighting the  'Innovation and Technology: Changing the Future of Railway', organised by CII.

Customers appreciate the experience

During the conference, Deouskar said the Vande Bharat customers have hailed the train experience, and the consumer's aspirations have grown, and that's why the team is planning Vande Bharat sleepers, Vande Bharat metro trains, all of this to meet the speed and consumer’s convenience-related expectations. 

Indian railways is on a great journey of expansion, Deouskar added. 

Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) will manufacture the Vande Bharat sleeper trains in partnership with Integral Coach Factory, Chennai and Railway Board.

 

Last month, Railway Minister Ashwini Vvaishnaw showed the Vande Bharat Sleeper's concept, which is scheduled for a 2024 launch. Designed for up to 160 km/hour, each Vande Bharat train will consist of 16 bogies, which can accommodate 887 passengers approximately. 

Indian Railway has issued a production plan for 102 Vande Bharat rakes, and it has a plan to develop 75 rakes as chair car versions and the rest of the cars as sleepers. More than that, 400 Vande Bharat sleeper trains with diverse technologies are also planned, and tenders for these trains are already in place. The budget for 2023-24 has also proposed an addition of 8000 Vande Bharat Coaches.

Chairman and managing director at BEML, Shantanu Roy, who is also partnering with the Vande Bharat Sleeper train initiative revealed plans to unveil a prototype of the Vande Bharat sleeper train within the fiscal year. Roy also commented on Vande Bharat's impact, and he said,  “Vande Bharat has been the game-changer for Indian commuter Rail, and all of it started with Train 18."

Roy highlighted the potential of the rail, emphasising opportunities that surpass ₹2 trillion in the next seven years, including Vande Bharat projects and many other metro tenders.

The chairman of CII Railway Transport and Equipment Division, Dipankar Ghosh, applauded Indian Railways initiatives like 100 per cent electrification and achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. Mr Ghosh also emphasised the role of domestic manufacturing in tandem with the Indian government’s focus on this sector.