Adding to the present fleet of Vande Bharat trains, the railways have decided to manufacture version 3, with major improvements, of these Made in India semi-high speed rails.
The tender process for making 200 such trains, with 16 coaches each, has already started with finalising of the bidding documents.
The tender will be issued shortly, said an official from the railway ministry, adding that some of the units could be manufactured in the Marathwada Rail Coach Factory in Latur district.
The new version of the self-propelled Vande Bharat, with AC-1, AC-2 and AC-3 and sleeper facilities, is likely to gradually replace Rajdhani and Duronto services. Aiming to manufacture the trains at the earliest, the railways have also planned to produce version 3 with severalfeatures.
"Comparatively lighter than the present Vande Bharat, the new version will be energy-efficient with more modern features,including additional pas- senger amenities" said a senior railway official.
Currently, manufacturing process of Vande Bharat version 2 trains is on.
The ministry of railways has already awarded the contracts to Medha for manufacturing 44 trains and is in the process for procuring 58 more.
