In 2023, a TMH-led consortium won an international tender to design, build and maintain 120 Vande Bharat long-distance electric trains for Indian Railways over the next 35 years. It is one of the biggest international projects in transport engineering today. Once in service, the new trains are expected to reshape long-distance passenger travel in India, the world’s most populous country.
The design concept was developed by Kinet Railway Solutions (Kinet RS), a joint venture between the Russian major rolling stock producer TMH and India’s Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL). The first train is scheduled to be built in 2026. Training Indian specialists involved in the design, production and operation of the new rolling stock was one of the tender requirements.
In response to a request from Kinet RS, TMH Corporate University launched a dedicated programme in late 2025 for engineers arriving from India. The course was based at the TMH plant in Tver, which in recent years has mastered production of the highly advanced Ivolga electric trains. The visiting engineers also travelled to the TMH plant in Mytishchi, outside Moscow, one of the world’s most modern manufacturers of metro trains.
Possible exterior design of the Vande Bharat sleeper for Indian Railways from Kinet RS. Source: Kinet RS
Three groups of Indian engineers came to Russia in November 2025. Altogether, 29 specialists took part. They included mechanical and electrical engineers, bodyshell-production specialists, and engineers working in quality and testing.
The programme ran for two weeks and was designed as a hands-on course from the outset. TMH Corporate University developed it together with specialists from across the group. There were lectures, certainly, but the emphasis fell on practical work in a live production environment, using the benchmark manufacturing flows established at the TMH plant in Tver. The idea was not simply to explain TMH’s production system in theory, but to let the Indian engineers see how a large, advanced plant operates day by day and connect that experience directly with what they had learned in the classroom.
The first stage of the programme focused on the design of the Ivolga 4.0 EGE2Tv electric train. Production specialists from Tver then joined the training and took the group through the finer points of assembly. They explained how bodyshell and bogie components are put together, what materials are used, and which details matter most in practice. Particular attention went to welding fixtures, equipment and welder certification. Separate sessions covered acceptance testing and final inspection. Plant specialists showed how each unit is checked step by step as components are installed, before the completed car moves to a dedicated test area and is placed on the rails for full operational testing. TMH representatives also spoke about the product certification process.
Engineers of Kinet RS study bogie production at the TMH plant in Tver. Source: Kinet RS
Engineers of Kinet RS and the Ivolga 4.0 electric train. Source: Kinet RS
The plant tour included the welding shop, the car assembly shop and the bogie shop. The organisers put particular emphasis on finished products and on the specifics of Ivolga production. The Indian delegation was shown the different stages of rolling-stock assembly, the logic behind the benchmark production lines, the organisation of logistics, bogie assembly, acceptance-testing procedures and the progress made in developing the operating system. The visitors were especially keen to see how electric train cars are assembled, how individual units are installed, and how both the equipment and the car itself are tested.
The visit to the TMH plant in Mytishchi was just as important. There, the guests encountered a different production environment and a different organisational model, shaped by the particular demands of metro-car manufacturing. It gave them a chance to see at first hand the advanced technologies, high levels of automation and quality standards achieved at the plant. Special attention was given to the assembly of metro cars and to the organisation of production as a whole.
Engineers of Kinet RS learn the Moskva 2024 metro train production process at the TMH plant in Mytischi. Source: Kinet RS
Kinet RS engineers entering the Moskva 2024 metro train. Source: Kinet RS
Taken together, the classroom sessions and the visits to the plants gave the Indian engineers a clear sense of the manufacturing technologies and quality standards in place across TMH’s production sites.
At the end of the programme, the visitors sat a final assessment to measure how well they had absorbed the material. In the view of TMH Corporate University, the group demonstrated an excellent grasp of the course content and received answers to all the questions they had raised before coming to Russia.
Engineers of Kinet RS during training at the TMH plant in Tver. Source: Kinet RS
Kinet RS engineers riding a Moskva 2020 train on the Moscow metro. Source: Kinet RS
The next stage will be to adapt that knowledge to local conditions and apply it at new production facilities in India. TMH also plans to repeat the programme for Indian engineers working in other specialist areas.
The partnership has already moved on to its next phase. Managers from Tver’s bodyshell production division have now been sent to India to help launch bodyshell manufacturing at the new site in Latur.
First body for the head coach for the Vande Bharat sleeper by Kinet RS. Source: Kinet RS
Strategic partnerships between industrial companies and educational institutions have an important role to play in strengthening technological and economic ties, not only within a country but between countries as well. In transport engineering, that relationship matters especially, because competitiveness depends directly on skills, expertise and the ability to introduce new technologies.
“Our aim is not simply to give our Indian colleagues new knowledge and reinforce it through practical training,” says TMH Vice President Natalia Shishlakova. “We are entering this market as a technological partner, with a long-term relationship in mind. We also wanted our colleagues to feel genuinely welcome here. We hope the specialists who have trained at the group’s corporate university will become ambassadors for Russian technical culture and for a broader understanding of our country and its people.”
Based on the article ‘TMH Corporate University trains engineers from India’ published in Vektor TMH, No 1 (64), 2026
Read also:
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Career at TMH: HR strategy in the interest of every employee, January, 2025
TMH Engineering’s work: Director’s quotes, March, 2026
