Trains are, and will be, the backbone of transport and freight across the country. They are becoming more efficient as we progress forward. At the apex of rail manufacturing resurgence stands a revolution led by Titagarh Rail Systems, a company that has evolved beyond its freight wagon roots to become a frontrunner in passenger mobility solutions.
During a recent walkthrough of its Titagarh facility in West Bengal, Prithish Chowdhary, Deputy Managing Director, offered critical insights into the company’s transformation. What began in 1997 as a modest wagon manufacturer with half-a-wagon-per-day capacity is now an integrated rail systems major with full capability to design, manufacture, and maintain both stainless steel and aluminium-bodied coaches.
Evolution To Integrated Rail Systems
Titagarh’s journey from freight wagons to metro coaches illustrates how strategic diversification can reshape legacy businesses. Starting with the supply of over 400 EMUs to Indian Railways, the company progressively built expertise in passenger rail design and manufacturing. A turning point came in 2015, when Titagarh acquired Italy’s Firema, enabling direct access to IP ownership and advanced rolling stock technology. Unlike mere licensing, this acquisition equipped the Indian team with core design competencies, particularly in propulsion systems and aluminium coach platforms.
Today, Titagarh’s capabilities span every part of the rail value chain, from bogie and car-body design to propulsion, traction motors and TCMS (Train Control & Management Systems). The group now operates five design centres across India and Italy, with each focused on specific sub-systems such as propulsion (Bengaluru), car-body and bogie design (Kolkata), and systems integration (Hyderabad). With over 130 engineers working across these centres, Titagarh is setting a strong foundation for end-to-end, indigenised manufacturing.
Aluminium For High-Speed Mobility
A very critical technological proposition for the company lies in its aluminium coach manufacturing, an area where it remains the only domestic OEM with full-scale capability. Chowdhary explains that while stainless steel remains the dominant material for urban metros in India, aluminium is the material of choice globally for high-speed and semi-high-speed trains due to its lighter weight, higher corrosion resistance and better lifecycle cost advantages.
The company’s flagship Pune Metro project stands as India’s only operational aluminium metro coach deployment. Lighter by at least 30% compared to stainless steel equivalents, these coaches enhance energy efficiency, reduce axle loads, and lower track wear. With the emergence of Vande Bharat sleeper variants and future high-speed corridors, Titagarh’s aluminium advantage could become strategically critical.
Also, note that this capability is not licensed but developed and matured internally. The Titagarh team leads structural and systems engineering for these platforms, enabling precise adaptation to Indian operating conditions, temperature, dust, gradient, and cost.
Plant Tech
Walking through the Titagarh facility offers a glimpse into how digital and physical infrastructure come together. CNC cutting systems for aluminium and stainless steel components, robotic welding arms, and modular assembly stations illustrate a modern manufacturing line focused on speed, accuracy and material consistency. The shift from manual shot blasting to automatic recyclable systems has not only improved efficiency but also reduced material waste by 40%, demonstrating how even legacy processes are being digitised.
Certified under IRIS and built to support Industry 4.0 norms, it includes robotic welding machines for stainless steel and aluminium shells, a 26-metre-long automatic paint booth, in-house bogie assembly lines, and a 500-metre test track powered with third rail systems. For propulsion, Titagarh has developed a full suite of in-house systems, including traction converters, auxiliary converters, traction motors and TCMS units. With an output capacity scaling to 2,400 motors and 850 coaches annually, the plant also includes export-ready assembly lines for European metro orders.
Sleeper Coaches & Platform Independence
Chowdhary’s discussion highlighted Titagarh’s involvement in the Vande Bharat sleeper coach programme. Out of 200 sleeper trainsets tendered by Indian Railways, 80 trainsets, each comprising 16 coaches, have been awarded to the consortium of Titagarh Rail Systems and BHEL. This marks the first instance of a private Indian entity being entrusted with full design, build and maintenance of intercity sleeper coaches. Importantly, Titagarh’s design is completely independent of public-sector peers like ICF and private consortiums such as TMH-Kinet.
The company is expected to deliver the prototype by March-April 2026. These coaches will be built from stainless steel and designed in-house with full lifecycle support. Chowdhary also confirmed that the company's engineering division is simultaneously developing a sleeper coach platform that blends Indian standards with global ergonomics and safety benchmarks.
Backward Integration
Titagarh’s industrial footprint is expanding beyond rolling stock. A joint venture with Ramkrishna Forgings is set to commission a new forged wheel facility at Bundipundi, near Chennai, by March 2026. With a planned capacity of 2.28 lakh wheels per annum, of which 80,000 units are already secured through a 20-year commitment from Indian Railways, the facility represents a major step in domestic self-reliance for very crucial rail components. This project addresses India’s long-standing dependence on imported forged wheels.
Global Collaborations
The acquisition of Firema has been a gateway to Europe, not just design knowledge but also for market entry. Titagarh is now exporting traction converters to Italy and has secured a €7.18 million contract for 132 converter units. More recently, the company entered into strategic tie-ups with ABB to manufacture TCMS systems, including those for driverless (GoA4) metro operations. With this, Titagarh will soon have manufacturing rights and technology ownership for propulsion components in India.
These partnerships are strategic enablers to support metro and intercity contracts in Indian States like Gujarat and Maharashtra, while also preparing for overseas tenders.
Broader Portfolio
Beyond coach building, Titagarh’s growing portfolio spans freight rolling stock, naval shipbuilding, and advanced defence equipment. But it is the passenger rail vertical that encapsulates the company’s new identity: a tech-led OEM with global standards, domestic depth and forward-integrated execution. In Chowdhary’s words, “We are not just manufacturing trains; we are designing and owning them, end to end.”
Photography: Mohd Nasir
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