8,000 Vande Bharat coaches to be made as Railways plans fleet overhaul

Around two-third of the 8,000 coaches planned will be sourced from the industry, under the prevailing model of manufacture and maintenance contracts, as per the coach production programme approved by the Railways Ministry this year. A 16-coach trainset would typically cost around Rs 130 crore, sources said.

The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai, which is the birthplace of the Vande Bharat, has been authorised to invite tenders for 3,200 Vande Bharat coaches of the sleeper variant. At present, all Vande Bharat trains are seating-only variants.

While 1,600 coaches will be made in ICF, the other two production units, MCF-Raebareli and RCF-Kapurthala will make 800 coaches each. The plan is to roll out these trains every year by 2030-31, officials said.

This financial year, an official said, the total number of Vande Bharat rakes might touch 75 — there are 25 at present. According to officials, nearly 700 of these Vande Bharat coaches will be manufactured this year, as per plan, followed by around a thousand in 2024-25.

Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has recently said the first sleeper version of the Vande Bharat may roll out by early 2024.

While the current variant is used for trips with distances around 500 km — like the Shatabdi Express trains — the sleeper version will go longer distances between cities, like the Rajdhanis.

“As we phase out the old ICF-variety coaches, Indian Railways is looking at a future where only two types of coaches will be in circulation: the Vande and the LHB,” a senior ministry official said.

Russian rolling-stock major TMH, in partnership with India’s Rail Vikas Nigam Limited, has recently won the bid to make 120 Vande Bharats, including the sleeper version, while BHEL has bagged a contract to make 80 of the same variant.

French major Alstom will make 100 Vande Bharat trains with aluminum bodies.