India-Russia Railway Joint Venture Unveils New Sleeper-Class Luxury Coach

The Russian‑Indian joint venture company Kinet has showcased the first design of a new high‑speed sleeper coach at the International Railway Equipment Exhibition in New Delhi.

Kinet is a joint venture between Russian rolling stock companies and Indian government-owned Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) for the manufacturing and maintenance of 120 Indian ‘Vande Bharat’ high-speed trains.

Nishunk Garg, a project director at Kinet Railway Solutions, stated that the JV is expected to unveil its first prototype in June next year, with manufacturing set to begin by the end of December.

Garg added that the company has already completed the car body of the first sleeper coach at its manufacturing facility in Latur, located in India’s western Maharashtra state. Kinet won the tender after offering the lowest price of ₹1.2 billion rupees (US$14.61 million) per train, seeing off rivals such as German giant Siemens, France’s Alstom Transport, and Switzerland’s Stadler Rail.

The company’s target is to roll out the first Vande Bharat sleeper coach train by next year, he said, adding that one coach, the car body, has already been constructed at its factory in Latur for demonstration.

The trains produced through the joint venture will be utilized for Indian Railways’ Vande Bharat program, an initiative launched in 2019 aimed at modernizing long-distance travel routes and enhancing transportation efficiency.

Indian Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, speaking at the exhibition, said New Delhi is working on the next generation of high-speed trains, with a strong focus on the export market. Central Asia, the Middle East, and Africa are expected to be primary export markets.

Vaishnaw stated that “India is currently operating Vande Bharat 3.0, which represents a significant improvement over its earlier versions,” and added that there are plans to construct 7,000 km of dedicated passenger corridors by 2047. At the same time, Indian Railways plans to procure 4,500 new Vande Bharat trains. That is an order book worth about US$65 billion.