Titagarh Rail Systems Ltd (TRSL), formerly known as Titagarh Wagons, and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) consortium have bagged orders worth Rs 24,000 crore to manufacture and supply 80 Vande Bharat sleeper trains for Indian Railways. Both the companies will have to manufacture fully assembled trains by 2029, and maintain them for 35 years.The facilities of the Indian Railway in Chennai will be utilised for the Vande Bharat sleeper trains’ final assembly, testing, and commissioning. Each train will have 16 coaches, with a total capacity of more than 880 passengers. The trains will be capable of operating at speeds of up to 160 km/h (kmph).
The company also claimed in an exchange filing that the Vande Bharat trains represent a significant development for Indian Railways under the Make in India strategy put out by the government. The BHEL-TRSL consortium was the only Atma Nirbhar consortium that participated in the tender process, subsequently being awarded the project.