Global rail transport major Deutsche Bahn (German Railways), which manages the operation and maintenance of India´s first regional rapid transit system (RRTS) located in the national capital region, is in preliminary talks with the transport authorities of other major cities in the country that plan to have similar projects. According to DB E.C.O. Group’s Chief Executive Niko Warbanoff, “Since we signed the contract last year, there has been a high interest from other cities located in other regions of India in a similar system. I am looking forward to expanding our own business (operation and maintenance) in the future in India.”
“We are in talks (with other cities), and so I cannot share details… but these talks are about an exchange of our experiences. I can see a high degree of interest in the RAPIDX project. In my observation, there’s a lot of other areas of India where people are looking into how this project is developing and how it is going on.”
Notably, the RRTS project’s 17-kilometer priority stretch was commissioned for public use by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on last Friday. The stretch has five stations located in Sahibabad, Guldhar, Ghaziabad, Duhai, and Duhai Depot.
Once fully completed, the RAPIDX, or Namo Bharat commuter train project, will cover a distance of 82 kilometers and connect the key urban centers across the National Capital Region to Delhi.
Last year, DB International Operations, which is a part of the DB E.C.O. Group, was awarded a contract to manage the operation and maintenance of the RRTS project by the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC).
At present, DB RRTS has taken over the management and maintenance of the system for the next 12 years for Rs 1,493.08 crore. The German company is expected to run 40 RRTS trains on the network.
