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The demand for toilets and a pantry car have become a sticking point for the Indian Railways and Russian rolling stock manufacturer Transmashholding (TMH), which could potentially delay and raise the production costs of the ambitious sleeper edition of Vande Bharat train sets.
The Indian Railways is yet to approve the design of the coach 14 months after signing of the contract with the Indo-Russia joint venture that entails a major shareholding by TMH — the largest manufacturer of locomotives and rail equipment in Russia and one of the five largest manufacturers of new rolling stock globally.
The contract agreement, which is called manufacturing-cum-maintenance agreement (MCMA), was signed on September 27, 2023 between Kinet Railway Solutions Limited and the Indian Railways.
Kinet is an Indo-Russian special purpose vehicle (SPV) formed by the consortium of TMH, Locomotive Electronic Systems (LES) — a close partner of TMH and a Russian supplier — and Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL).
As per the MCMA, Kinet will supply a total of 1,920 Vande Bharat Sleeper coaches to the Indian Railways and will offer maintenance services for 35 years.
While the manufacturing of these trains at Marathwada Rail Coach Factory (MRCF) in Latur, Maharashtra, was scheduled to begin by the end of this year, TMH said that on May 24, 2024, it received an official letter from the Indian Railways to change the composition and certain internal features of coaches within the framework of the contract.
The Russian company said that it has replied to Indian Railways after incorporating the required changes in the coaches and awaiting their reply for the approval of design and reframing of the contract.
The company also said that these changes will increase the total cost of the project, for which it has sought compensation from the Indian Railways.
In the new composition and design of the rolling stock, the national carrier has demanded four lavatory rooms per car, one pantry car in each train, less pantry space per train, and luggage zones in each end car of each train.
In earlier design, there were three toilets per car, no pantry car and, instead, a pantry area in each car, and no luggage zones.
Apart from this, as per the modifications, Railways have demanded 80 trainset with 24 cars each instead of 120 trainsets with 16 cars each.
This issue was also raised in the last inter-governmental meeting between India and Russia in New Delhi, in the presence of India’s foreign minister S Jaishankar and First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Denis Manturov.
“My expectation was that the production would start in December this year. Right now, we have got to change the scope of the product. It means we need to redesign it. I cannot say that which month actual production will begin; before that we need to finalise the design of the product,” said Kirill Lipa, chief executive officer (CEO) of TMH, at his Efremova Street office in Moscow, Russia.
“The significant changes sought is not about the number of coaches, but about the design of coaches. From the outside, it seems that an additional lavatory is not an issue; the problem emanates from the engineering point. You need to change whole layout of the coach like windows, seats etc. It is simple to say to add more, but for that we need to reshape the whole body. We designed it according to the contract. Unfortunately, this is bringing us back to design, which we had already completed. The pantry is another issue. It is not only about cooking, it should be according to the standard of railways. In some way the whole trainset will be redesigned. These changes are taking more time and money”, he said.
Lipa also said that he sent his response to Indian Railways in September 2024 and has sought compensation or additional budget for changes.
The Indian Railways said that the response of Kinet is under consideration.
“Based on the operational requirement and within the provisions of MCMA, Indian Railways has sought changes in train composition, luggage compartment, pantry car and toilets. The techno-commercial response of Kinet is under examination within the provisions of MCMA. Similar change request was made by Indian Railways to the other contractor of Vande Bharat trains and their response is also under consideration.”
It also said that the first prototype has to be supplied within 24 months.
On the escalation of costs, Lipa said: “We have insisted on certain compensation for the redesigning of the product because it takes time, which will escalate the cost… We have not got the real legal document yet now. We have to sign it. Any further delay will postpone the execution of the project”.
The CEO also said that he raised the issue in the last inter-governmental meeting between India and Russia.
“We hope that we raised it in right manner and right level. It is not like that we asked the Russian government to create any pressure, but we just want a clear explanation. In some cases, I do not understand the approach of Indian Railways. All these can be resolved within two hours,” said the TMH CEO.
Apart from TMH-led Kinet, Titagarh-BHEL will also manufacture 80 such trains.
TMH manufactures and supplies passenger trains and coaches, metro cars, locomotives, engines, and components.
(The writer is in Moscow on the invitation of Transmashholding)
