Indian Railways hopes to roll out the first prototype of the Vande Bharat sleeper train by March 2024 and BEML aims to start the production process within a few days. In an exclusive interview with TOI, Shantanu Roy said Vande Bharat trainsets are a huge opportunity for BEML.
Vande Bharat sleep coach train will be in a class of its own from Rajdhani – BEML CMD explains | Railways
Watch the video above to learn more about the Vande Bharat sleeper train project and the passenger comfort and safety you can look forward to. Also get a glimpse of the concept design of the Vande Bharat sleeper train with images of the proposed interior.
Details of Vande Bharat Sleeper Train:
Vande Bharat Express in its current form is a fully air-conditioned chair car service that aims to eventually replace the Shatabdi Express trains. The 160 kmph self-driving semi-high-speed train is seen as the face of the next generation of world-class travel on Indian Railways.
Vande Bharat sleeper The coach train will be a superior version of the premium Rajdhani Express train, considering the demand for faster and more comfortable overnight long-distance travel.
According to Shantanu Roy, what sets the Vande Bharat apart and puts it in a class of its own from the Rajdhani is that it is aerodynamically designed with a nose cone while being locomotive powered. “The interior will also be at a different level than the Rajdhani. It is designed for highly superior trains operating abroad,” he told TOI.
The Vande Bharat sleeper train will have 16 coaches; 11 AC 3-tier (611 berths), 4 AC 2-tier (188 berths) and 1 First AC with 24 berths, bringing the total capacity of the train to 823 berths.
In terms of future opportunities in the Vande Bharat project space, Roy sees BEML seeing huge potential. “The railways have announced that they want to have 800 train sets by 2030. It actually represents a huge opportunity for BEML, over Rs 1.5 lakh crore to be precise. And even if we have a 50% success rate, it means an opportunity size of at least Rs 75,000 crores for BEML in the next five to seven years,” he says.
