Vande Bharat Sleeper maintenance under TRSL-BHEL JV plan

Vande Bharat Sleeper maintenance is set to be handled through a joint venture. TRSL and BHEL have decided to form it, according to an NSE filing by TRSL. Separately, TRSL has set March 31 as the deadline. It covers car bodies for the first rake of the Vande Bharat Sleeper train.

Vande Bharat Sleeper maintenance plan and timeline

Also, the plan covers 80 Vande Bharat Sleeper trainsets. Each trainset comprises 16 coaches. In addition, as noted on the Titagarh project page, the contract value is close to Rs 24,000 crore. It also includes maintenance for the next 35 years. Meanwhile, the company is targeting to roll out the first train. The target period is the third quarter of the financial year 2027.

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At the same time, The Indian Express reported the March 19 filing. In an exchange filing on March 19, Titagarh Rail Systems Limited said: “It is hereby informed that the Board of Directors of Titagarh Rail Systems Limited (TRSL) at its meeting held today i.e., 19th March, 2026 has approved formation of a Joint Venture Company with BHEL as a special purpose vehicle for Maintenance Obligations of Vande Bharat Trains to be supplied by the (TRSL- BHEL) Consortium in accordance with the MCMA under Make-in-India initiative for Atma Nirbhar Bharat program of GOI.”

In a separate exchange filing, BHEL said: “Joint Venture (JV) Agreement and authorisation for seeking clearance of DIPAM for formation of Joint Venture Company with M/s Titagarh Rail Systems Limited for comprehensive maintenance of the supplied Vande Bharat Sleeper Trains. After clearance of DIPAM, the JV agreement will be finalized with modifications, if any. Details as required under SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 will be disclosed once JV agreement is signed.”

Manufacturing contract and earlier train launch

Still, the Ministry of Railways awarded the contract to manufacture Vande Bharat Sleeper trains to three companies:

• BEML
• Kinet Railway Solutions — a joint venture between Russian rolling stock major TMH and Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL)
• a consortium of Titagarh Rail Systems Limited and Bharat Heavy Engineering Limited (BHEL)

For example, Railway Supply previously covered the Howrah-Kamakhya-Howrah Vande Bharat Sleeper train. It was launched in January 2026. It was developed by BEML using Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF) technology.

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