Indian Railways floats tender of 58 Vande Bharat Trains, aims to launch 102 trains by 2024
Indian Railways floats a tender of 58 Vande Bharat Trains following PM's I-day speech.
A tender for 58 Vande Bharat trains is floated by the Indian Railways after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in his speech on Independence Day that 75 Vande Bharat trains will be launched in 75 weeks of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ to connect several parts of the country. At present, only two such Shatabdi-type semi-high speed trains are in operation mode.
The new coaches will be manufactured at the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai, Modern Coach Factory, Rae Bareilly and Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala. The tender will be closed on October 20. "A pre-bid meeting will be held on September 21 with the cut-off date for the submission of pre-bid queries being September 14. The tender floated on August 28 has invited bids for the design, development, manufacturing, integration and testing of traction propulsion electrics for the 58 rakes of Vande Bharat trains", reported News18.
On August 15, PM Modi said that 75 weeks of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ will be celebrated to mark the journey of 75 years of Independence. The Indian railways will be launching 75 Vande Bharat trains to connect far-flung areas of the country. Last year, in September, the railways had floated a revised tender for procuring 44 semi-high speed Vande Bharat trains, mandating 75 per cent domestic component, making it a domestic tender.
As per the reports, the Vande Bharat trains with upgraded amenities, better seating space, security and surveillance systems and features designed for emergencies, is expected to be rolled out from June 2022 onward.
