New Delhi: The upcoming Vande Bharat Sleeper trains will feature redesigned upper berths that are more comfortable and easily accessible for passengers of all age groups, a government official said on Wednesday.  

Nishank Garg, Director of the Vande Bharat Project at Kinet, the joint venture responsible for the project, told IANS that passenger feedback played a key role in shaping the new design.

"Passengers generally have the perception that the upper berth is not comfortable and is difficult to access. We designed the new Vande Bharat Sleeper keeping this in mind," Garg said.

He added that the ladder leading to the upper berths has been engineered to ensure ease of use, making the design more passenger-friendly. "This feature will be available from the very first train, which we aim to deliver next year. We are rapidly progressing towards this goal," Garg said.

Evgeny Maslov, Chief Designer of the Vande Bharat Project at Kinet, said the design reflects a vision to enhance comfort and redefine long-distance rail travel in India.

"Our goal is to provide a next-level comfortable travel experience. We believe Vande Bharat is a truly significant project for the country, and this is our vision of how it will evolve in the future,” he noted.

Kinet Railway Solutions is a joint venture between CJSC Transmashholding — Russia’s largest rolling stock manufacturer — and Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), a public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Railways. The partnership has been tasked with designing and manufacturing 1,920 sleeper coaches (120 trainsets) for the Vande Bharat project and maintaining them for the next 35 years.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that 35,000 kilometres of new railway tracks have been built, 46,000 kilometres have been electrified, and 40,000 new coaches have been manufactured over the last 11 years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In the last 11 years, Prime Minister Modi has put strong focus on railway modernisation, and the results are visible, he said.

(IANS)