Vande Bharat Sleeper, Vande Metro on Tracks Next Year: All You Need to Know

The Indian Railways will launch a sleeper version of the Vande Bharat and the Vande Metro before this fiscal ends next year. The semi-high speed train series will also have a non-air conditioned push-pull version with 22 coaches and a locomotive, which will be launched in October 2024, said railway authorities.

“We’ll be launching the sleeper version of the Vande Bharat within this financial year. We’ll also be launching the Vande Metro in this financial year. And we’ll be launching this train for non-air conditioned passengers, which is called a non-AC push-pull train, which will have 22 coaches and a locomotive. That launch is going to happen before 31st October…” said BG Mallya, general manager of Integral Coach Factory (ICF).

Here’s all you need to know about the new versions of the popular indigenous train:

1. The Indian Railways will roll out the sleeper version of the Vande Bharat by March 2024. The coaches for both the sleeper version as well as the metro are being made by the ICF in Chennai.
2. Vande Metro will be ready by the end of 2023 and rolled out in January or February next year.
3. Mallya said the sleeper version of Vande Bharat will have 16 coaches: 11 air-conditioned 3-tier, four AC 2-tier and one first AC. He added that no other colour scheme has been conceived so far.
4. The Vande Metro is a combination of Vande Bharat trains and electric multiple unit (EMUs) for cities that are around 100 km apart. This will be a more modified and luxurious version of an EMU. According to reports, these trains will have 10 to 12 AC coaches.
5. Railway officials have said Vande Metro will be a rapid world-class shuttle-like service and can also push tourism and the economy. It will operate more or less like metro trains, but over longer distance and between cities.
6. Mumbai may become the first city to get these trains and be part of the city’s lifeline — the local train network.
7. Officials have said the sleeper version will be designed to travel at a speed of 220 kmph but their aluminium-made version trains will run at a speed of 200 kmph.
8. A tender for 400 Vande Bharat trains has been issued and the work will be approved by the end of this month. According to the plan, the first 200 trains will have seating arrangements on the lines of Shatabdi Express. In the second phase, 200 Vande Bharat trains will be sleepers and be made of aluminium.
9. The chair car Vande Bharat trains will replace Shatabdi Express in a phased manner, while the sleeper version is going to be an alternative to Rajdhani Express trains.
10. The Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata tracks will be repaired before the Vande Bharat sleeper trains run on them. Work on signal system, bridges, and fencing will also be done on the routes.