Work on the prototype for the Vande Bharat sleeper train, awarded under this tender, is also yet to gather pace in view of the discussions, they said.
The Indian Railways is keen to procure 24-coach trains, which was provisioned in the contract.
“The terms of contract allow for changing the coach composition per rake. Railways can ask for 12-, 16-, or 24-coach trains at no cost escalation,” a senior official aware of the plan said.
Supply and maintenance contract for 200 Vande Bharat sleeper trains was given out to Kinet Railway Solutions, and a consortium of Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) and Titagarh Rail Systems (TRS) in mid-2023. Prototype trains were to be showcased in a year but both suppliers are yet to begin work on them.
Separately, BEML and Integral Coach Factory (ICF) of Chennai received a contract for supplying 10 trains on a nomination basis. Some coaches of the BEML-ICF prototype train were also showcased earlier this month with the first batch expected to commercially roll out later this year. Kinet Railway Solutions, an Indo-Russian joint venture, was awarded the tender to supply 120 Vande Sleeper variant trains at a cost of Rs 120 crore per 16-coach rake. The BHEL-TRS consortium order is for supplying 80 trains at the same cost. A Kinet Railway Solutions spokesperson admitted that talks were ongoing with the Indian Railways.The company is currently liaising with the Indian Railways to finalise details of the scope change request, the spokesperson said. “Once all the details have been agreed upon, a new project timeline will be defined, reflecting the revised scope. Kinet is fully committed to implementing the contract in full collaboration with IR.”
The BHEL-TRS consortium did not respond to queries from ET.
