Railways to manufacture own Vande Bharat train wheels

Ukraine is one of the largest manufacturers of wheels and gets bulk of its orders from the European Union for wheels of freight railcars. Currently about 20 factories worldwide manufacture these wheels, officials said.

The Indian Railways will begin manufacturing the wheels at the Railway Wheel Factory (RWF) in Yelahanka, which has already floated tenders for the parts required to start manufacturing. It is expected to complete the production in the next two-three months, officials aware of the matter said. The factory has been manufacturing axles for these wheels, even the imported ones.

The railway ministry held a slew of meetings with the External Affairs Ministry over the supply of the wheels for the Vande Bharat trains, a pet project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In the Union Budget for 2022-23, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that 400 new Vande Bharat trains will be developed and manufactured over the next three years. The target is to roll out 75 such trains by August 15, 2023, according to a timeline announced by PM Modi.

The wheels are expected to be brought to Chennai in batches between May 15 and May 20 and taken to the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) where the trainsets are being assembled.

The ministry aims to get surplus wheels for not just the 75 trainsets that it has to assemble by August 15, 2023, but also for the next lot.

“The wheels will land from Romania in time for trials of the trains and the orders that we have subsequently given to two other companies abroad will also reach us by next month. So, we are most likely to have many trainsets ready by June-July this year,” the official added.