Meerut. Taking another important step towards building India's first Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), NCRTC today 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 Shri Shalabh Goyal and other senior officials were present on this occasion. In this trial, the Namo Bharat train was run manually to check the compatibility of the civil structure. As this trial progresses, NCRTC will conduct a comprehensive evaluation to assess the integration and coordination of the train with various subsystems 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 planned in the next few months.

Namo Bharat train service will be available from New Ashok Nagar to Meerut South
. The length of this section from Sahibabad to New Ashok Nagar is about 12 km. There are two RRTS stations in this section, Anand Vihar and New Ashok Nagar. After the operation of this section, Namo Bharat train service will be available for passengers from New Ashok Nagar to Meerut South, after which passengers will be able to reach Delhi from New Ashok Nagar to Meerut South and Meerut South to New Ashok Nagar seamlessly and at a fast speed in less than 40 minutes.

Passengers will get many essential facilities.
Anand Vihar RRTS station will be one of the most crowded passenger transit centers 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, a large crowd of passengers travel here daily. NCRTC is ensuring seamless integration of Anand Vihar RRTS station with these various transit modes to provide better convenience and access to passengers, which will make this station known as a model of multi-modal integration.

NCRTC constructing a foot over bridge
New Ashok Nagar RRTS station is located less than 100 meters from New Ashok Nagar Metro Station. To integrate these two modes of transport, NCRTC is constructing a footover bridge (FOB) to connect the concourse level of the metro station to the concourse of the RRTS station. In addition, 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 Shiva temple. These FOBs will provide easy access to the station to the residents of New Ashok Nagar. NCRTC has recently won top honors among various international participants at the UIC Sustainability Impact Awards 2024 in Germany, including two awards, the Best Transit Award for Seamless Connectivity and the prestigious Overall Winner Award.

Travel time between Delhi and Meerut will be less than an hour
The Delhi section has three RRTS stations, New Ashok Nagar, Anand Vihar, and Sarai Kale Khan. The section between New Ashok Nagar and Sarai Kale Khan station is in the final stages of construction and track laying activities are in progress. Once the entire 82 km corridor becomes operational by the targeted deadline of June 2025, passengers will be able to travel between Delhi and Meerut in less than an hour.