“The interior design for one of the iconic trains of the new India will be carried out in Rivoli, near Turin.” That is how Eid Mohamed, CEO of Blue Engineering, describes the contract win that propels the Piedmontese firm into the heart of one of the Asian nation’s most ambitious railway projects.
Passengers boarding the train in Chennai will be traveling in interiors crafted with pure Turin design.
The Rivoli-based company will design the new sleeper carriages for the Vande Bharat Express in a consortium with India’s Airfloa Rail Technology, which is leading the operation.
For days, Blue Engineering’s name has been making headlines across Indian news sites, often alongside images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“It’s like winning the World Cup”
For the engineering and design company founded in 1993, this achievement goes far beyond the contract’s financial value: it means competing with global heavyweights and exporting Piedmontese expertise to a rapidly expanding railway market. “We didn’t win because of the price we offered, but because we were the best,” Mohamed stresses.
“It’s like winning the World Cup. Beyond the economic value, it is a tremendous honour: we are entering India with open arms, bringing the Italian capacity to conceive and develop complex solutions.” The selection process was demanding: seven consortia passed the initial screening and advanced to technical evaluation, but only three reached the final stage.
The contract covers the interiors for a Vande Bharat Sleeper train, along with related development activities, finishes, and spatial layout. The total contract value announced by Airfloa is approximately 3.5 million euros. The Indian firm will coordinate the consortium and oversee local manufacturing, while Blue Engineering will supply its technical and design expertise. Mohamed also anticipates involving a local supplier for assembly work: “We don’t want to bring only our own skills, but also those of other Italian companies.”
From the South to the Himalayas
The Vande Bharat Express is a semi-high-speed train capable of reaching 160 km/h, developed under the flagship “Make in India” initiative, through which the government aims to modernize national railways while bolstering domestic industry. The first train, known as Train 18, entered service on February 15, 2019, on the New Delhi–Varanasi route.
The Sleeper variant is built for overnight trips and long-distance travel of up to 1,000 km over 14-hour journeys. Replacing seating-only configurations, it features sleeping berths across three classes. In a vast country with extreme climate variations, the interiors must deliver comfort and functionality whether navigating the hot and humid southern cities or the northern regions near the Himalayas, where temperatures can plummet below freezing.
A pivotal step
This is where Blue Engineering comes into play. The company specializes in developing complex vehicles and systems, handling everything from initial concept design to final technical integration.
“Our job is to translate the requirements of Indian Railways into tangible, functional, and industrially feasible environments,” Mohamed explains.
“The technical and intellectual work will take place in Rivoli, while production will be carried out in India by our partner. It is a fantastic opportunity to prove that Italian engineering can compete internationally, even in a strategic sector like rail transport.”
For the Turin region, the contract reinforces ties with a market benefiting from surging public and private investment in rail infrastructure.
For Blue Engineering, it marks a pivotal step that could open doors to new partnerships. “The greatest satisfaction,” concludes the CEO, “is having earned this opportunity through our own expertise.”
This article was reviewed by an external translation partner