The Ministry of Railways has floated a new tender for 100 upgraded Vande Bharat trainsets that will be capable of a top speed of 200 kilometres per hour.
Apart from the increase in speed from 160 to 200 kmph, the body of the new trainset is required to be made of lightweight aluminium alloy. The new trainset will have both sleeper and chair car configurations. The Ministry of Railways has also mandated the inclusion of all modern passenger amenities like a sub-pantry, a passenger information system, surveillance, and more.
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Manufacturer to Maintain Trainset for Life
Manufacturing of most Vande Bharat trainsets of this tender will have to be done at Indian Railways’ lesser-known Rail Coach Naveenikaran Karkhana at Sonipat near Delhi. The manufacturer is required to upgrade existing facilities at the specified factory to be able to produce 30 trainsets every year. Prototypes and 50% of trainsets scheduled for delivery in the first year are allowed to be produced at the manufacturers’ own facility if they have one.
Besides, the manufacturer is also required to maintain the trainsets as per specified standards for the entire 35-year lifetime of the trainsets. An average maintenance fee of 4% of the cost of the trainset will be paid to the manufacturer every year.
Maintenance is to be conducted at depots in Delhi and Chennai, the sites for which have not yet been identified. The manufacturer will also have to upgrade infrastructure at these depots if existing depots are to be used.
Key Vande Bharat Aluminium Body Trainset Specifications
The Ministry of Railways has set out several requirements for the new version of Vande Bharat / Train-18 trainsets. A few key features:
| Body | Aluminium Alloy |
| Max Service Speed | 200 kmph |
| Max Axle Load | 17 tons per axle |
| Max Tare Weight for 16 coach Sleeper | 851 tons |
| Max Tare Weight for 16 coach Chair Car | 825 Tons |
| Design Life | 35 years |
| Emergency Braking Distance at 200 kmph | 1,600 metres |
| Power configuration | Max 50% powering |
| Trainset Unit Configuration | DTC-MC-TC-MC2- MC-TC-MC2- NDTC/EC -NDTC/EC2-MC2-TC-MC-MC2-TC-MC-DTC |
Planned Vande Bharat Trainset Coach Configurations
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As part of specifications supplied by the Indian Railways, three Vande Bharat coach configurations have been laid out.
Type 1 (Sleeper configuration)
Type 2 (Sleeper configuration)
Type 3 (Seating configuration)
Vande Bharat Trainset Delivery Schedule
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Unlike the previous tenders that were based on an existing and proven specification, a different timeline is to be followed for the new design. After all necessary approvals have been received by the manufacturer, two prototypes have to be delivered to Indian Railways.
Serial production is to follow with all required modifications on completion of successful trials. Assuming schedule are adhered to, this is what the broad 84-month delivery timeline is expected to look like:
| Award of Tender | Estimating 4 months from Closing Date | Mar 2023 |
| Delivery of First Prototype | Within 30 months from ‘Appointed Date’ | Sep 2025 |
| Delivery of Second Prototype | Within 32 months from ‘Appointed Date’ | Nov 2025 |
| Completion of Trials by Indian Railways | Within 36 months from ‘Appointed Date’ | Mar 2026 |
| Serial Production | ||
| Year 1 | 15 Trainsets | 2026 |
| Year 2 | 20 Trainsets | 2027 |
| Year 3 | 25 Trainsets | 2028 |
| Year 4 | 25 Trainsets | 2029 |
| Year 5 | 13 Trainsets | 2030 |
If the tender is awarded without much delay after the closing date, the whole delivery plan will speed up by an equivalent number of months.
The last date for submitting bids for the two-packet open tender is 10th November 2022 and calls for “Manufacturing cum Maintenance of 100 nos of New Generation Energy Efficient Vande Bharat Trainsets with Distributed Power System including upgradation of the Government Manufacturing Units &Trainset Depots”. A pre-bid meeting is scheduled for 27th July 2022 for prospective bidders.
Assuming delivery timelines of the earlier tenders are met, Indian Railways will be operating several versions of the original Train-18, now called Vande Bharat, trainsets by the year 2030.
