NEW DELHI (Metro Rail News): Tata Steel, India’s leading steel manufacturer, has signed an agreement with the Indian Railways to manufacture at least 22 Vande Bharat Express trains, India’s fastest and most feature-rich trains, in the coming year. The Ministry of Railways aims to manufacture a total of 200 Vande Bharat trains over the next two years and launch the first sleeper version by the first quarter of 2024.
To expedite production, Indian Railways has signed an agreement with Tata Steel on various schemes. As part of the agreement, Tata Steel will manufacture seats for the Vande Bharat Express, from first AC to three-tier coaches. The company has also been contracted to make Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches for the train, which includes structures of panels, windows, and railways of the trains.
The multinational steel company has been awarded a tender worth approximately Rs 145 crore for manufacturing the train’s parts. The manufacturing process is expected to take 12 months.
The composites division of Tata Steel has already started working on the seating system for Vande Bharat Express, which includes 22 train sets with 16 coaches
each. According to Debashish Bhattacharya, the Vice President of Tata Steel’s Technology and New Materials Business, the seats have been specially designed to rotate up to 180 degrees and include passenger amenities resembling those found on aeroplanes, marking the first time such features have been incorporated into trains in India.
