In a good news for commuters in Delhi-NCR, the 17-km long priority section of the India's first Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) connecting Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut is fully ready. The corridor between Sahibabad and Duhai Depot of the RAPIDX - the official name of the RRTS - will be opened for public early next month, officials confirmed. The semi-high-speed regional rail service with speed upto 180 km called 'RAPIDX' is developed by the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) -- a joint venture company of the Centre with Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh governments.
The priority section will have five stations, namely -- Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Guldhar, Duhai and Duhai Depot -- and will be operationalized by early June, ahead of its anticipated time. The NCRTC is targeting to commission the entire Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor for public use by 2025, followed by RRTS services on other sectors including Delhi-Karnal, Delhi-Alwar among other routes.
Priority section of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut #RRTS corridor between Sahibabad to Duhai Depot is ready for operations. As per the project timelines, this section with five stations Sahibabad, Ghaziabad , Guldhar, Duhai and Duhai Depot is to be operationalised by June 2023.… pic.twitter.com/JTvIivZIXi
— National Capital Region Transport Corporation Ltd. (@officialncrtc) May 28, 2023
The Rapid Rail system will deploy Alstom-made modern metro trainsets with facilities like Wi-Fi, automated gates among other facilities, similar to urban train network in European counties. The NCRTC is tapping green energy by installing solar panels on stations and depots as well as using blended power in traction, which is planned to be increased progressively.
According to the NCRTC, 'RAPIDX' will connect the people who choose to live in their hometowns in the National Capital Region (NCR) with Delhi through a modern, sustainable, convenient, fast, safe and comfortable means of travel, said the officials.
The 'RAPIDX' services on the first Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor will bring down the travel time between Delhi and Meerut significantly. It is expected that the corridor, once completed, will help commuters travel between Delhi and Meerut in under an hour, covering more than 80 km at an average speed of more than 100 kmph.
Further, the trains will be available at a gap of 10 minutes, easing commute for daily travellers. Although the fare has not been decided, but reports states that the Delhi-Meerut RRTS will be economical on pocket for daily travellers, with every km travelled in less Rs 2.
