News Brief
Vande Bharat Sleeper Expansion: Ten Trains In Production, 50 More In Pipeline At Integral Coach Factory Chennai
File photo of Vande Bharat Sleeper trainset
The Indian Railways is progressing with the rollout of its Vande Bharat Sleeper trains, with ten trains currently under production and an additional fifty rakes slated for manufacturing at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai.
These sleeper variants are designed to offer a premium travel experience on long and medium-distance routes.
“Vande Bharat Sleeper trains have been planned for long and medium distance journey. Design of trains to be manufactured by Indian Railways has been finalized. At present, 10 Vande Bharat Sleeper trains are under production. Further production of 50 Vande Bharat Sleeper rakes has been taken up by Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai,” Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Friday (25 July).
The Vande Bharat initiative is part of Indian Railways’ broader effort to enhance travel quality through indigenously developed, semi-high-speed trains with modern amenities and safety features.
According to the minister, contracts for the manufacturing of 200 Vande Bharat Sleeper rakes have also been awarded to technology partners.
He added that design and manufacture of coaches including Vande Bharat is a continuous process on Indian Railways and is undertaken based on operational and traffic requirement.
The Vande Bharat Sleeper is a long-distance variant of the Vande Bharat train family, developed by Indian Railways for overnight journeys.
The train includes 16 fully air-conditioned coaches—typically 11 AC 3-tier, four AC 2-tier, and one AC First Class—featuring bio-vacuum toilets, automatic doors, silent air conditioning, USB charging, and accessibility features.
Some of the features and amenities of these trains are:
Fitted with KAVACH Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system
EN-45545 HL3 fire safety standards compliant train.
Crashworthy Design of Carbody complying with EN standards.
Regenerative braking system for energy efficiency.
Higher Average speed with quick deceleration and acceleration.
Emergency talk-back unit for communication between Passenger and Train Manager/Loco Pilot in case of emergency.
Accommodation and accessible toilets for Passengers with Restricted Mobility (PRM) in the driving coaches on each end.
Centrally controlled Automatic Plug Doors and Fully Sealed wider gangways.
Ergonomically designed ladder for ease of climbing on to upper berths.
Centralized Coach Monitoring System for better condition monitoring of passenger amenities such as Air conditioning, Saloon Lighting etc.
CCTV surveillance cameras in all coaches.
