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The Indian Railways is preparing to launch its first Vande Bharat sleeper trains for passengers in January. After introducing this new service, the Railways has set an ambitious goal of building eight more sleeper rakes by the end of March. According to a report by Maalaimalar, this upgrade is to
make Vande Bharat trains suitable for overnight travel, which passengers have been requesting for a long time.
Building of New Sleeper Coaches
These new sleeper coaches are being made at the Integrated Coach Factory (ICF) in Perambur, which already manufactures nearly 4,000 train coaches every year. Until now, all 92 Vande Bharat trains running in India are chair-car versions meant only for daytime travel. The sleeper model will allow the Railways to offer a faster and more comfortable option for long-distance night journeys.
Officials say that work on the sleeper version started last year at the BEML unit in Bangalore. The prototype, which includes 16 coaches, was later shifted to the ICF for detailed testing. After this testing phase, it will be sent to Delhi. A senior railway official confirmed that the first Vande Bharat train equipped with two sleeper coaches will be launched for public use in January. The second sleeper train has already been put together and is currently undergoing trial runs in Ahmedabad.
Because the Railways expects strong demand for sleeper-style Vande Bharat services, plans have been finalized to produce eight more trains by the end of March. Officials also mentioned that there are discussions about introducing a Vande Bharat service with a single sleeper coach on the Bangalore-Kanyakumari route, which will also pass through Chennai. If approved, this would give overnight travellers another modern and comfortable option.
