DELHI (Metro Rail News): Airfloa Rail Technology Limited and Italy-based BLUE Engineering S.r.l. have secured a ₹34.85 crore contract from Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai, to design the interiors of the Vande Bharat sleeper trainset. The award expands Airfloa’s role in railway engineering, taking its work beyond component manufacturing and interior furnishing into trainset design.
Airfloa will lead the consortium and complete the assignment within 12 months of receiving the Letter of Acceptance (LoA).
Contract covers interior design and development of Vande Bharat
The amount of the contract covers GST and has been sanctioned for the two major aspects of the Vande Bharat sleeper trains development project:
- Interior designing for the Vande Bharat sleeper trains that costs for ₹30.93 crores of the total contract value
- Associated development tasks related to the project amounts to remaining ₹3.93 crores
The combined value of the two components is approximately ₹34.86 crore, while the announced contract value is ₹34.85 crore.
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The scope centres on the trainset’s interior design and related development activities. ICF, which is responsible for manufacturing railway coaches, awarded the contract to the Airfloa-led consortium on October 13, 2026.
Airfloa expands its railway engineering role
Airfloa has worked on railway interiors, seating, furnishings and rolling stock components for Indian Railways and other rail projects. The new assignment gives the company a larger role in the design stage of a major passenger train programme.
Its previous railway work includes interior furnishing and engineering assignments associated with Vande Bharat Express, Vistadome coaches, the Agra-Kanpur Metro, the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), and export coach projects for Sri Lanka. The partnership with BLUE Engineering brings an international engineering firm into the design assignment, with Airfloa serving as the Indian lead member.
Delivery deadline set at 12 months
The consortium must complete the contracted work within 12 months from the date of the LoA. The release does not specify a separate milestone schedule or identify a date for completion of the interior design.
Also Read: CCRS Finishes Inspection of High-Speed Trial-Run of Vande Bharat across Mathura-Nagda Section