Delhi-Meerut RRTS: India's first semi-high-speed regional rail to be called 'Namo Bharat'

Namo Bharat Train: India's first semi-high-speed regional rail service Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) was officially renamed 'Namo Bharat' on Thursday (October 19), a day before its inauguration by the country's Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Prime Minister Modi is expected to inaugurate the regional rail around 12 noon today (October 20), Hindustan Times reported.

Making the announcement official, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri in a social media post said, "Inauguration of the country’s first Regional Rapid Train #NamoBharat between Sahibabad & Duhai Depot by PM Sh @narendramodi Ji on 20 October 2023 will mark the beginning of a new era of state-of-the-art ultra-modern urban commute in the country. @PMOIndia @myogiadityanath."

Later, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs's official handle tweeted, "India’s first Regional Rapid train “#NamoBharat” Train is indigenously manufactured with a designed speed potential of 180 kmph and an operational speed potential of 160 kmph."

The 17-km priority section of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS Corridor is expected to be opened for passengers on October 21, a day after its inauguration. The foundation stone for the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor was laid by PM Modi on 8 March 2019.

The National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), which is implementing India's first semi-high-speed regional rail service project, named RRTS trains as 'RAPIDX' in April.

The Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor is estimated to be worth Rs 30,000 crore ($3.60 billion) which will connect Delhi to Meerut with a travel time of less than an hour passing through urban centres of Ghaziabad, Muradnagar and Modinagar, the PM office had said. It added that the trains would be operational from 6 am to 11 pm. To start with, the frequency of trains would be 15 minutes and can be increased to every 5 minutes.

Renaming the rapid regional train comes after the renaming of the country's first semi-high-speed train "Train 18", now called "Vande Bharat", and the revamping of 1,275 railway stations under the "Amrit Bharat Stations" scheme.

(With inputs from agencies)

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