Vande Bharat coaches are assembled on the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai on May 26, 2023.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
French rail company Alstom will manufacture 100 aluminium bodied Vande Bharat trains with sleeper facility, after bidding the bottom for the tender at a worth of ₹150.9 crore per practice.
Two firms — Alstom and Hyderabad-based Medha Servo Drives — had participated within the tender. Medha bid at a worth of ₹169 crore per practice.
Aluminium bodied trains will likely be lighter in weight as in contrast to a chrome steel physique.
The practice is pegged to have a pace functionality of 200 km per hour.
Currently, Vande Bharat Express trains are manufactured at a median price ₹120 crore per practice. Sudhanshu Mani, former General Manager on the Integrated Coach Factory, Chennai, and creator of the Vande Bharat trains, stated, “Will ₹30 crore higher price be justified for 200 kmph capability, and what about the track [quality] and energy efficiency?”
The present plan, in works by the Indian Railways, is to improve tracks in sure sections to run trains at 160 kmph. At current, Vande Bharat Express trains run at no more than 80 to 90 kmph in a majority of the sections due to the shortcoming of the tracks to maintain excessive speeds.
The order for 100 aluminium bodied trains is as well as to 120 trains to be manufactured by Russian TMH and Indian public sector enterprise RVNL consortium, in addition to 80 trains to be manufactured by the Titagarh Wagons and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) consortium.
