INTERNATIONAL: Ahead of the completion of a prototype of a sleeping car variant of the Vande Bharat inter-city train, contractor Kinet Railway Solutions and parent Transmashholding have launched a training programme in Russia for rolling stock technicians from India.
This initiative is reported to be the largest railway co-operation in recent times between Russia and India. So far, 29 specialists have completed training at domestic production plants belonging to Metrowagonmash and TMH, including the Tver Carriage Works.
The training scheme is being managed by TMH’s Corporate University at the request of KRS. According to Natalia Shishlakova, Vice-President of TMH, international collaboration through educational programmes has become ‘an integral part’ of TMH’s business development strategy.
‘We organise internships at TMH production sites in Russia, invite specialists from other countries to our factories, and send our project teams abroad to Uzbekistan and India, where TMH has partnerships and clients’, she told local media.
During their visits to Metrowagonmash, Indian engineers were able to learn about metro rolling stock production technologies, including carbody manufacturing, traction motors and converters and other electrical systems. At TVZ, the staff gain hands-on experience in assembling the Ivolga EMUs that TMH is supplying to Russian Railways. The training programme concludes with a final assessment to evaluate the participants’ understanding of the training sessions.
Kinet Railway Solutions was formed in September 2023 as a joint venture between Indian state-owned project company Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (which holds a 25% equity stake) and TMH subsidiaries Metrowagonmash and Locomotive Electronic Systems with 70% and 5% respectively. KRS is to produce a third-generation of Vande Bharat trainsets for overnight services. An initial fleet of 120 16-car trainsets was ordered by the Ministry of Railways in 2023 under a Rs580bn deal which envisages significant investment in production and maintenance facilities.
The trains are to be produced at IR’s factory at Latur in Maharashtra, which has been modernised under the Vande Bharat programme and is in the final stages of preparation for EMU production. A prototype trainset is due to be rolled out before the end of 2026.
