Vande Bullet prototype roll out in 2027: Ashwini Vaishnaw

The Vande Bullet prototype will roll out in 2027 and production starts latter half of the year, Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said Saturday. The minister inaugurated Aditya, BEML's high speed rail manufacturing facility and said a Vande Sleeper service will shortly run from Bengaluru to Mumbai. This will be India's second Vande Sleeper service.

“The Aatmanirbhar (self-reliant) bullet train has jointly been designed by Integral Coach Factory (ICF) and BEML. They will be manufactured at BEML’s Aditya Plant - designed for this purpose,” Vaishnaw said.

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“Aditiya plant is equipped for precision manufacturing…its robotic laser welding machine can ensure high strength welding,” he said.

The minister also announced a new Vande Sleeper train service between Bengaluru and Mumbai. The first Vande Sleeper service started commercial operations in January 2026, connecting Kamakhya (Guwahati, Assam) and Howrah (Kolkata, West Bengal).

Vaishnaw said entire coastal Karnataka will shortly be serviced by Vande Bharat services. The minister announced a Vande Bharat Express (chair car) will soon run between Bengaluru, Mangaluru and towards Madgaon.

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Commenting on the Bengaluru Suburban train project, he said pace of land acquisition has gained pace.

Highlighting a point of contention with the Congress party ruled state government, the minister noted there was initial resistance regarding key appointments.

“This is a technical project and it took almost one and a half year to convince the state government to agree upon the appointment of a technical person as Managing Director. Thankfully they have agreed and work is progressing,” Vaishnaw said.

Commenting on the proposed high-speed rail corridor from Chennai and Bengaluru, he said the advent of these trains will cause major cities to be seen as extensions of one another. “Travel time between Chennai and Bengaluru is expected to drop to just 73 minutes, effectively making the two cities part of a single integrated hub,” the minister said.