Railway issues work order for production of 120 sleeper version Vande Bharat Trains

New Delhi, India (Urban Transport News): The Ministry of Railways has issued work order (letter of acceptance) worth Rs 24,000 crore to RVNL-Transmashholding-Mytschi JV for manufacturing & maintanence of 120 sleeper version Vande Bharat Express trainsets for Indian Railways. These modern semi high-speed trainsets will be manufactured in Latur in Maharashtra. The letter of acceptance (LoA) was issued on 29th March 2023.

The RVNL-Transmashholding-Mytschi JV which quoted Rs 120 crore price per train is the lowest bidder (L1) in the recently concluded tendering process for manufacturing of 200 Vande Bharat trains with Sleeper coaches while Titagarh-BHEL JV quoting nearly Rs 140 crore per train is the second lowest bidder (L2).  Till now Vande Bharat Express trains are operational with seating arrangements only.

Indian Railways has also communicated Titagarh-BHEL JV (L2 Biddder) to lower the price as a counter offer as they had quoted a higher price than RVNL-Transmashholding-Mytschi JV (L1 Bidder).

According to sources, both the bidders have accepted the offer and will soon communicate to the Railways.

According to contract terms, RVNL-Transmashholding-Mytschi JV has to deposit Rs 200 crore and Titagarh Wagons-BHEL JV to deposit Rs 160 crore as performance guarantee bond with the Indian Railways as the next step in the Vande Bharat project worth Rs 50,000 crore with 35 years of maintenance provision.

The Vande Bharat with Sleeper facility will have one First AC, three Second AC and 11 Third AC coaches. The ergonomically designed driver trailer coach at the front and rear side will be a Divyang-friendly facility. The interior panels and Sleeper berths of the Vande Bharat will be provided by Tata Steel as both Titagarh and TMH are in talks with Tata to finalise the job.

Tata Steel (New Materials Business) has an existing purchase order from Integral Coach Factory Chennai for manufacturing and supply of Seats in 22 Vande Bharat Trains with total worth of  Rs 145 crore and interiors for 16 Vande Bharat Trains at a total order value of Rs 79 crore. It has also been in discussions with both Transmashholding and Titagarh Wagons to provide complete interior solutions for the sleeper version Vande Bharat trains.

“We are trying for further orders for such Seats and Berths at competitive rates and working with the Railways to improve the specifications and quality to international standards based on Tata’s worldwide supply capability for vehicles in all budget and luxury segments and collaborations with Indian and international partners,” said a senior official of Tata Steel (New Materials Business).