Snapshot
According to the estimate, one Vande Bharat train with 16 aluminum coaches is slated to cost Rs 130 crore.
The Railways is floating a tender worth Rs 26,000 crore for manufacturing 200 Vande Bharat trains with aluminium coaches as the bidding documents for the light weight semi-high speed trains have been finalised.
The high-value tender would be floated in two parts with 100 Vande Bharat trainsets in each part.
While the first lot of 100 semi-high speed Vande Bharat trains would be of distributed power system, the second lot of 100 trainsets would be equipped with articulated bogie and concentrated power car system, a first in Indian Railways.
According to the estimate, one Vande Bharat train with 16 aluminum coaches is slated to cost Rs 130 crore.
Earlier the Railways had floated a tender for procurement of 200 Vande Bharat trains with Sleeper facilities. The bidder has been given the option to choose either steel or aluminium and the bid is expected to open in August-end.
However, in the remaining 200 Vande Bharat trains, the bidder has been given the option of aluminium only and as a result the cost is likely to go up.
Till now Indian Railways has awarded contracts for manufacturing 102 Vande Bharat trains with seating arrangement.
The Railways aims to deliver 75 Vande Bharat trains by 23 August next year and two such trains are expected to be rolled out in August this year.
Since Vande Bharat trains are capable of running 160 kmph speed on the existing tracks, there is a plan to run such trains on Shatabdi and Rajdhani routes to reduce travel time considerably.
Currently, two Vande Bharat trains are operational to Varanasi and Katra from the Capital. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced in her budget 2022-23 for bringing about 400 more Vande Bharat trains.