Indian Railways invites bids for 58 new Vande Bharat trains

31 Aug 2021 CW Team

On Saturday, Indian Railways released a tender for 58 Vande Bharat Express rakes.

This follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement on Independence Day that 75 trains will be launched in 75 weeks, connecting various parts of India.

The Integral Coach Factory in Chennai, the Modern Coach Factory in Rae Bareilly, and the Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala will produce the trains' coaches.

Railways had issued a tender for 44 Vande Bharat rakes earlier this year. By 2024, 102 Vande Bharat trains, including the new 58 rakes, will be operational.

The tender will be open until October 20. On 21 September a pre-bid meeting will be held, with the deadline for pre-bid queries being September 14.

Tenders for the design, development, manufacturing, integration, and testing of traction propulsion electrics for the 58 rakes of Vande Bharat trains were released on August 28.

Only two Shatabdi-style semi-high-speed trains are currently in service.

The new trains will have four emergency windows for easy evacuation of passengers in the event of an emergency, as well as disaster lights in all coaches and additional emergency push buttons.

The coaches will be upgraded to include a centralised coach monitoring system for all electrical, climate control, and other important train set functions as part of the upgrade. They'll also have more comfortable seats with a reclining pushback arrangement.

Indian Railways issued an updated tender in September for the purchase of 44 semi-high-speed Vande Bharat trains, requiring 75% domestic components.

In 2019, a Vande Bharat train was launched on the New Delhi-Varanasi route for the first time.

Indian Railways recently began reviewing the bidding process for its $4.05 billion tender for the operation of private passenger trains.

Image Source

Also read: Vande Bharat Express to get new features by 2022

Also read: Integral Coach Factory to introduce new Train 18 prototype

On Saturday, Indian Railways released a tender for 58 Vande Bharat Express rakes. This follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement on Independence Day that 75 trains will be launched in 75 weeks, connecting various parts of India. The Integral Coach Factory in Chennai, the Modern Coach Factory in Rae Bareilly, and the Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala will produce the trains' coaches. Railways had issued a tender for 44 Vande Bharat rakes earlier this year. By 2024, 102 Vande Bharat trains, including the new 58 rakes, will be operational. The tender will be open until October 20. On 21 September a pre-bid meeting will be held, with the deadline for pre-bid queries being September 14. Tenders for the design, development, manufacturing, integration, and testing of traction propulsion electrics for the 58 rakes of Vande Bharat trains were released on August 28. Only two Shatabdi-style semi-high-speed trains are currently in service. The new trains will have four emergency windows for easy evacuation of passengers in the event of an emergency, as well as disaster lights in all coaches and additional emergency push buttons. The coaches will be upgraded to include a centralised coach monitoring system for all electrical, climate control, and other important train set functions as part of the upgrade. They'll also have more comfortable seats with a reclining pushback arrangement. Indian Railways issued an updated tender in September for the purchase of 44 semi-high-speed Vande Bharat trains, requiring 75% domestic components. In 2019, a Vande Bharat train was launched on the New Delhi-Varanasi route for the first time. Indian Railways recently began reviewing the bidding process for its $4.05 billion tender for the operation of private passenger trains. Image Source Also read: Vande Bharat Express to get new features by 2022 Also read: Integral Coach Factory to introduce new Train 18 prototype

Infrastructure Transport

12 Jan 2026

Dhalbhumgarh Airport Faces 150-km Rule Hurdle

The issue has resurfaced following a recent statement by Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu, who said that under existing aviation policy, a new greenfield airport is generally not permitted within an aerial distance of 150 kilometres of an operational civilian airport. He added, however, that if a formal proposal is submitted, its impact on the existing airport can be examined and relaxations may be considered on a case-by-case basis. While the clarification has revived some hope for Dhalbhumgarh, it has also underlined the scale of the technical challenge facing the project. Unde..

Infrastructure Transport

12 Jan 2026

Stakeholders Seek Parallel Ops For Vizag Airports

With road and metro rail links to Bhogapuram still several years away, stakeholders in north Andhra Pradesh have renewed demands to continue civil operations at INS Dega even after the commissioning of Bhogapuram International Airport. The new airport is expected to begin commercial operations from June. Officials said close to 80 per cent of the airport infrastructure at Bhogapuram, including the terminal building and internal approach roads, has already been completed. However, inadequate external connectivity remains a key concern. Making a case for parallel operations, Andhra Pradesh Air ..

Infrastructure Transport

12 Jan 2026

Govt To Roll Out V2V Tech To Cut Road Crashes

In an effort to curb road accidents, particularly in low-visibility conditions such as dense fog, the government is set to roll out vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication technology that will allow cars to exchange real-time data and alert drivers to potential dangers. The announcement was made by Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari after the 43rd meeting of the Transport Development Council. The technology involves installing an on-board unit (OBU) in vehicles, enabling wireless data exchange between nearby cars. This will allow vehicles to share information such as spee..