Vande Bharat semi high speed trains to get `First-in-India` 180 degree rotating Tata Steel-made seats

The Vande Bharat express trains, also called Train 18 will get 'First-in-India' 180 degree rotating seats made by Tata Steel. The Tata Group company and India's largest steel maker is planning to spend Rs 3,000 crore on R&D by FY26 and set to roll out seating system for Vande Bharat Express trains from September 2022. Tata Steel's Composites division bagged a Rs 145 crore bulk order for seating systems of the Vande Bharat express that includes the supply of complete seating systems for 22 train sets, with 16 coaches in each train set. This will be the first time India-made seats will be installed in the semi-high speed trains. 

Not just 180 degree rotating seats, Vande Bharat trains will be also getting aircraft-style passenger amenities. "This is ‘first-in-India' kind of a supply, which will be executed over 12 months starting September 2022," Debashish Bhattacharjee, Vice President, Technology & New Materials Business, Tata Steel, told PTI.

"Composites industry in India is dominated by institutional businesses and is largely dependent on infrastructure, industrial and railway sectors. One of the key initiatives of the composites business was to convert to Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) applications where steel is currently being used. Railways has been a promising customer for the FRP Composites business of Tata Steel."

Fibre Reinforced Polymer Seats

The FRP used in the seats will have higher corrosion resistance and lower maintenance cost. Moreover, it will be conforming to the European standard of fire-retardant property, and will offer improved safety and comfort to passengers. Vande Bharat Express, also known as Train 18, is the second fastest train in India, which operates at a speed of 130 km/hr.

The company is targeting to be among the 'Top 5 in technology in steel industry globally by 2030' and one of the key enablers for achieving technology leadership is a quick conversion of ideas into pilot testing and commercialisation, the company officials said.

Bhattacharjee said Tata Steel is setting up a greenfield facility to produce Sandwich panels. "Tata Steel is setting up a greenfield facility at Khopoli, Maharashtra, in collaboration with a technology partner from the Netherlands."

The facility will manufacture Aluminium honeycomb cored sandwich panels, which will be used mainly for interiors of rail and metro coaches. Key customers for the unit will be global metro and rail coach OEMs and also Indian Railways," he noted.