Govt floating tenders for Train 18 contracts

The ambitious Train 18 project is likely to get a fresh impetus soon with the government floating fresh global tender for 30 to 40 trains, said official railway sources, adding that the Research Designs and Standards Organization (RDSO), the research arm of the railways, changed the criteria for the train set and that major global players that are likely to be a part of the bidding include Alstom, Siemens, Bombardier and Spanish major CAF. Indian companies like Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL), are also joining the fray. PM had touted it as an iconic Make-in-India initiative under which there is a plan is to produce 160 coaches in 2019-20, 240 coaches in 2020-21 and 240 coaches in 2021-22 at the ICF. This was after the cancellation of two bulk tenders for propulsion systems of Train 18 earlier this year. A first one for the 43 propulsion systems and a second tender for 37 systems got cancelled due to lack of interest. Around 35 per cent of the cost of the train is because of its propulsion system. Before the initial launch, the train was certified by RDSO after safety oscillation trials and the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) also cleared the train for commercial operations. Based on comparative data available with industry sources, the energy consumption of Rajdhani trains was seen at 10,340 kwh for 447 km and for the Shatabdi, it is 8,396 kwh and Train 18 it is 8,983 kwh for the same distance. However, in terms of energy regeneration, Train 18 has an edge with the coaches regenerating 12.9 per cent of the total energy consumed, compared to 12.3 per cent by the Rajdhanis and 11 per cent by the Shatabdis. Regeneration is the power to send energy back to the grid, when the train is in braking mode, they claimed.