(MENAFN) A Russian-Indian joint venture has unveiled the first design of a high-speed sleeper coach at the International Railway Equipment Exhibition in New Delhi.

Kinet, a collaboration between Russian rolling stock companies and India’s government-owned Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), is responsible for manufacturing and maintaining 120 Vande Bharat high-speed trains. Nishunk Garg, project director at Kinet Railway Solutions, said the first prototype is expected by June 2026, with full-scale production starting by the end of December, marking a significant step forward in India’s high-speed rail development.

Garg added that the car body of the first sleeper coach has already been completed at Kinet’s Latur facility in Maharashtra. The joint venture secured the contract by offering the lowest bid of 1.2 billion rupees ($14.61 million) per train, outpacing competitors including Germany’s Siemens, France’s Alstom Transport, and Switzerland’s Stadler Rail.

The company aims to roll out the first Vande Bharat sleeper coach train by next year, with the completed car body serving as a demonstration model. These trains will be deployed under Indian Railways’ Vande Bharat program, launched in 2019 to modernize long-distance travel and improve transport efficiency.

Speaking at the exhibition, Indian Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw highlighted that New Delhi is also working on the next generation of high-speed trains, emphasizing plans to develop the export market.

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