Railways floats tender to procure 100 Vande Bharat trains with maximum design speed of 200 kmph

NEW DELHI: The railway ministry has floated a tender for procuring a new set of 100 Vande Bharat trains with maximum design speed of 200km per hour as the government is now prioritising introduction of more semi high-speed trains in the next few years.
With this, it has invited bids for a fresh set of 400 such trains in three tranches.
According to the tender document, these 100 trains will have articulated bogie, aluminium body and sleeper facilities. Officials said considering that the life of each such aluminium body coach is 35 years, the maximum design speed has been increased to meet future needs as rail tracks will also be upgraded. The maximum design speed of current Vande Bharat trains – both operational and being manufactured – is 160 kmph.
Articulated technology is capable of negotiating curves on the tracks without losing speed and hence can reduce the total travel time to some extent.