On the 20th of October, Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted the official inauguration of the initial segment of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS Corridor at Sahibabad\’s RapidX Station in Uttar Pradesh. Subsequently, Prime Minister Modi also launched the RapidX train service, connecting Sahibabad to the Duhai depot. Renamed as \”NaMo Bharat,\” this service represents India\’s first semi-high-speed regional rail offering and is scheduled to commence passenger operations on October 21, 2023.
The overall length of this RRTS train system spans 82.15 kilometers, with the initial 17-kilometer priority section between Sahibabad and the Duhai Depot now operational. The entire corridor is on track for full functionality by June 2025.
During the inauguration event, Prime Minister Modi engaged with schoolchildren and the crew aboard the \”NaMo Bharat\” RapidX train, which connects Sahibabad to the Duhai Depot.
Key features of the Delhi-Meerut RRTS include:
– Operating at a speed of 160 kilometers per hour.
– Providing a dedicated women\’s coach and a premium coach, complete with a train attendant.
– Reserving the second coach, when traveling from Delhi to Meerut, exclusively for women, with a seating capacity for 72 passengers, and offering additional women\’s seats in other coaches.
– Offering a premium coach to encourage personal vehicle commuters to transition to the RRTS. This coach boasts spacious and comfortable seating, with charging points for mobile devices and laptops at each seat. Access to the Premium Coach is facilitated through a platform-level Premium Lounge, furnished with cushioned seating and vending machines.
– Including a Train Attendant on each RapidX train, responsible for aiding commuters and ensuring their safety and comfort.
– Designing stations to ease traffic congestion by providing entry/exit points on the sides rather than the main road, along with dedicated passages on both sides.
– Providing a range of ticketing options, such as QR code-based paper tickets, digital QR tickets, RapidX Travel Cards, National Common Mobility Cards (NCMC), and Open Loop contactless cards.
– Incorporating ergonomically designed elements within RapidX trains, such as 2×2 transverse seating, ample standing space, luggage racks, CCTV cameras, laptop/mobile charging outlets, dynamic route maps, auto-controlled ambient lighting, and HVAC systems.
Local residents are eager for this initiative to significantly enhance travel connectivity and improve the overall commuting experience. Shubhank Agarwal, a local resident, highlighted the convenience it brings to passengers traveling from Delhi to Meerut. Rakesh Sharma emphasized the reduction in travel time and improved commuting in densely populated areas, while Shikha Sharma underlined the improved ease of travel to Meerut, resolving previous commuting challenges.
