Railways plan Vande Bharat Metro trains launch for inter-city travel later this year, Kapurthala Rail Factory to build

NEW DELHI : The first of India’s Vande Bharat metro trains will roll out of Indian Railways’ Kapurthala Rail Coach Factory later this year, two people familiar with the plan said, with the prototype train ready for trials .

The 12-coach trains, which can be expanded to 16 if needed, will serve India’s rapidly expanding intercity and suburban routes. In the first two years after the approval of the prototype, 50 such trains are expected to be introduced, the people mentioned above said on the condition of anonymity.

Made in India trains bring India into a select global club of metro rail train manufacturers, dominated by countries in Europe, South Korea, China and Canada. Metro buses operating in various Indian cities are currently supplied by global train manufacturers, with some of them manufacturing buses and trains domestically, also under technology transfer agreements.

Larger orders

Also read: Vande Bharat Metro to replace Mumbai’s local trains soon

Later, the Railways will place larger orders of more than 400 trains, which will require valuable investments. ₹50,000 crore in the next few years in manufacturing units.

While a metro train of 12 buses currently costs ₹100-120 crore, domestic manufacturing will reduce that by a quarter, making it one of the cheapest metro systems in the world.

“These trains are first manufactured for domestic consumption to connect more than 125 cities covering short distances between 100-250 km. The first batch of trains would run between 12 key cities including Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Mathura, Varanasi, Tirupati , Chennai etc. Based on availability, the export option would also be explored later,” said the first person quoted above.

A query sent to the Railway ministry remained unanswered till press time.

Multiple approach

Saurabh Agarwal, partner with EY Investment Growth Group said a multi-pronged approach is needed to achieve the goal of self-sufficiency. “Localization would have a cascading effect, generating more jobs, encouraging increased investment in research and development, and ultimately reducing dependence on imports. These factors are all essential to achieving self-sufficiency in India,” he said.

Trains of 12 buses can be extended to 16, depending on the need. The coaches will feature all the modern services available on Vande Bharat trains now. It will have a top speed of 120-160 km per hour, just like the existing Vande Bharat semi-high speed train chair version, but will come with faster acceleration required for inter-city trains with more stops. It will have to the general category of passengers and daily carriers, and thus have an entire configuration without reservation.

Also read: Indian Railways to launch Vande Bharat and Vande Metro first cross train

The Vande Bharat metro would be third in a series of trains proposed under the Make in India tag. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier announced that three versions of Vande Bharat semi-high speed trains would be launched to change the face of rail travel in India.

The first car version of Vande Bharat was launched on 15 February 2019. According to railway data, 51 Vande Bharat trains (102 Vande Bharat train services) are operational on 100 different routes, spanning 284 districts in 24 states and territories of the Union. The second chair car version of the Vande Bharat train and the metro versions are expected to be launched later this year.