The commencement of commercial manufacturing of Vande Bharat sleeper trains will take place at Uttarpara facility of Titagarh Rail Systems Limited (TRSL), starting in June 2025.
As per Swarajya’s earlier report, a consortium led by TRSL and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) had signed a contract on 14 June with Indian Railways — for manufacturing and maintenance of 80 fully assembled Vande Bharat sleeper train sets.
This also marked the first instance for a contract of this value to be awarded to a private sector player for design and manufacturing of complete train sets and maintenance for 35 years.
As per the official, the consortium, with a 52 per cent stake held by TRSL, plans to produce a minimum of 50-55 per cent of the train components in Bengal.
“The commercial production of Vande Bharat sleeper trains will commence from June 2025 and we are already in the process of installing requisite separate lines and other infrastructure facilities at the Uttarpara plant. A significant portion of the Rs 650 crore capex has also been lined up for this purpose,” stated Titagarh Vice-Chairman & MD Umesh Chowdhary, as per Economic Times report.
The first eight train sets will be completely constructed at Uttarpara, while the final assembly, testing, and commissioning of the Vande Bharat sleeper trains will be performed at Indian Railway’s facilities in Chennai.
The entire order is scheduled to be executed over a period of six years, with the initial prototype expected to be delivered within two years.
According to the report, certain key component of the trains, such as their bodies and interiors, will be manufactured in the state, while electrical components and others will be sourced from the consortium partner.
Starting from 2026, even the wheels will be produced by a joint venture company called Ramkrishna Titagarh Rail Wheels Limited — which is a collaboration between Titagarh and Ramkrishna Forging.
A new joint venture facility is set to be built, with the aim of becoming the largest train wheel plant in Asia outside of China.
This facility will have a capacity to produce two lakh wheels per annum. By 2026, the wheels for the Vande Bharat sleeper trains will be manufactured in this plant, according to Umesh Chowdhary.