Vande Bharat sleeper trains to be launched by March 2024

CHENNAI: After the success of Vande Bharat, Indian Railways is planning to launch the Vande Bharat sleeper trains and its manufacture is in the final stage. Railway authorities are hoping to start the service of Vandebharat sleeper trains by March 2024. The manufacturing work started at the end of October 2023.

Bharat Earth Movers Limited is manufacturing the Vande Bharat sleeper train in collaboration with the Indian Railways' Integral Coach Factory in Chennai. Vande Bharat sleeper trains offer better travel experience than Rajdhani Express and Tejas Express trains which are relied upon by more passengers in the country.

In the long term, the Railways also plans to replace the Rajdhani Express trains and introduce Vande sleepers on the routes they run. The 16-coach Vande Bharat sleeper prototype will have 11 AC three-tier coaches, four AC two-tier coaches and one AC first class coach.

These sleeper trains will have the same speed as the Vande Bharat train. Some graphical images of this have been released so far.

Reports available so far suggest that the sleeper trains will be a paradise of amenities. Railways aims to launch 120 trains in Vande Bharat sleeper model. Rs 35,000 crore has been earmarked for the project.

16 coaches are envisaged for the train, namely eleven third AC coaches, four second AC coaches and one first AC coach. It is being built in such a way that it can be increased to 20 to 24 coaches later.