Sudhanshu Mani, also known as the inventor of Vande Bharat Express trains, believes that there is potential at a speed of 200 km/h Aluminum trains will change the face of Indian Railways. Watch this week’s episode of TOI Business Bytes to hear what Sudhanshu Mani has to say about the benefits of aluminum trains for Indian Railways and passengers, their characteristics, likely fares, business opportunity and export potential.
Vande Bharat aluminum trains will change the face of Indian Railways at a speed of 200 km/h
Two major railway equipment manufacturers – Swiss conglomerate Stadler in cooperation with Medha Servo and French company Alstom – have submitted bids to manufacture aluminum train sets in India. According to the tender, these 100 aluminum multiple units are sleeper trains.
Vande Bharat The express train was first introduced in 2019 on the Delhi-Varanasi route. Since then 9 more Vande Bharat trains are rolled out. While the first two trains were prototypes, Indian Railways began rolling out the Vande Bharat 2.0 upgraded trains from mid-2022.
In their current form, Vande Bharat trains are air-conditioned seating cars superior to Shatabdi Express trains in terms of facilities. The semi-high-speed, self-propelled Vande Bharat trains can travel at 160 km/h.
Indian Railways is now hoping to launch the sleeper version of the Vande Bharat trains. 200 Vande Bharat sleeper trains – a higher quality version of the Rajdhani Express trains – are set to be manufactured in the coming years.
At the same time, the national haulier hopes to acquire the manufacturing expertise for aluminum trains, which are becoming the norm around the world.
