Namo Bharat Train in Delhi: Taking another important step towards building India's first Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), NCRTC on Saturday started trial runs between the Sahibabad-New Ashok Nagar section of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor. This is a major milestone as the Namo Bharat train is now entering Delhi, connecting the Delhi section of the corridor with the already operational Sahibabad-Meerut South section. NCRTC Managing Director Shalabh Goyal and other senior officials were present on the occasion.

Namo Bharat will run manually during the trial.

In this trial, the Namo Bharat train was driven manually to check the civil structure. As the trial progresses, NCRTC will conduct a comprehensive evaluation to assess the integration and coordination of the train with various sub-systems such as track, signaling, platform screen door (PSD), and overhead power supply system. Along with this, extensive trial runs including high-speed tests of the train are also planned in the next few months.

You will reach Meerut South from New Ashok Nagar in less time

The length of Sahibabad to New Ashok Nagar section is about 12 km. There are two RRTS stations in this section, Anand Vihar and New Ashok Nagar.

Once this section is operational, Namo Bharat Train service will be available to passengers from New Ashok Nagar to Meerut South, which will enable passengers to travel from New Ashok Nagar to Meerut South at a fast speed in less than 40 minutes. Anand Vihar RRTS station will be one of the most crowded passenger platforms on the corridor. This station is connected to two metro lines (Blue and Pink), Anand Vihar Railway Station, and two ISBTs, one towards Delhi and the other towards Kaushambi in Uttar Pradesh. Due to this, there is a daily movement of thousands of passengers here.

Two more FOBs are under construction.

The New Ashok Nagar RRTS station is located less than 100 meters from the New Ashok Nagar Metro station. To integrate these two modes of transport, NCRTC is constructing a foot-over bridge (FOB) to connect the concourse level of the Metro station to the concourse of the RRTS station. Additionally, two more FOBs are being constructed to facilitate access to the New Ashok Nagar RRTS station, one towards Chilla Village and Mayur Vihar Extension and the other near the ancient Shiv Mandir. Currently, NaMo Bharat Train services operate on a 42 km stretch from Sahibabad to Meerut South. The stretch covers a total of nine stations namely Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Guldhar, Duhai, Duhai Depot, Muradnagar, Modi Nagar South, Modi Nagar North, and Meerut South.

Target to start the train by June 2025

With the Namo Bharat Train running from Sahibabad to New Ashok Nagar, the length of the RRTS operational section will increase to 54 km, with 11 RRTS stations. The Delhi section has three RRTS stations, New Ashok Nagar, Anand Vihar, and Sarai Kale Khan. Construction is in the final stages in the section between New Ashok Nagar and Sarai Kale Khan station. Once the entire 82 km corridor is operational by the targeted deadline of June 2025, passengers will be able to travel between Delhi and Meerut in less than an hour.