Russian Vande Bharat Sleeper likely to get final approval soon; Indian-made ready for roll-out
By Arun Kumar Das
New Delhi, Oct 13 (BVI) Delayed by several months, manufacturing of Vande Bharat Sleeper train coaches with Russian technology is expected to get the final approval from Indian Railways in the near future.
“There were certain issues which have been resolved and now it is in the final stage of approval,” said an official of the Indian Railways about the clearance which has been pending
The much-awaited service is slated to be rolled out by December next year
“The Russian Joint Venture company has submitted the design of Vande Bharat Sleeper train and we are examining it,” the official said.
According to the Railways, there will be three toilets in a coach instead of four and there will be no Pantry car in the 16-coach Vande Bharat Sleeper train.
Earlier, the Railways was keen for four toilets in a coach and also a Pantry car since it would be an overnight long service.
The Russia-India joint venture, Kinet Railway Solutions ( a consortium of Russia’s Transmassholding (TMH) and India’s Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL), secured a contract from Indian Railways in March 2023 to manufacture and maintain 120 sleeper trainsets.
Indo-Russian JV has also set up a manufacturing facility in Lature to produce the Vande Bharat Sleeper trains under the Make-in-India initiatives.
According to the Russian JV, Kinet is executing the Vande Bharat Sleeper train project in full accordance with its agreement with Indian Railways.
The Vande Bharat Sleeper train with Russian technology was delayed because of various issues including Western sanctions against Russia.
Meanwhile, the 10-coach Vande Bharat Sleeper trains, indigenously-manufactured by BEML at ICF, Chenna, are ready to roll out by the next month-end.
While the first rake is already out, the second one is slated to be rolled out in November after which the Sleeper train will be pressed into trial before being launched into operation. (BVI)
