Tata Steel signs deal with Railways to manufacture 22 Vande Bharat Trains

Chennai, India (Urban Transport News): The Railway Ministry has set a production target of 200 sleeper version Vande Bharat trains in the next two years and to achive the target Indian Railways recently signed an agreement with Tata Steel under which the company will manufacture parts for 22 Vande Bharat trains.

The Ministry of Railways has also set a target to run the first sleeper version of Vande Bharat by the first quarter of 2024.

Under the agreement, Tata Steel will also make the seats of the Vande Bharat Express, from first AC to three-tier coaches. The contract for making Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches of the train has also been given to the Indian company, under which structures of panels, windows and railways are being prepared.

"Keeping this in view, an agreement has been signed between Indian Railways and Tata Steel on several schemes to speed up the production work. Under the scheme, Indian Railways has given a contract of about Rs 145 crore to the Tata Steel for manufacturing the parts of the train, which is to be completed in 12 months," said sources.

The seats made by the Tata Steel for the Vande Bharat Express will be able to rotate 180-degree and have aircraft-like passenger amenities which are a first in India. "The seats of this train are specially designed, which can rotate up to 180-degree and have aircraft-like passenger amenities which are a first in India," said Debashish Bhattacharya, Vice President (Technology and New Materials Business), Tata Steel.

The composites division of Tata Steel started working in this direction after receiving a bulk order for seating system of Vande Bharat Express, including 22 train sets with 16 coaches each. According to IANS, Tata Steel is constantly engaged in increasing its stake in the Railways and has also posted officials for coordinating with the Railways.