Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System: Soon your journey from Delhi to Meerut will take just 60 minutes! Prime Minister Narendra Modi today laid the foundation stone for the Delhi-Meerut Rapid Rail Corridor in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. According to information shared by National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), which is the implementing agency of the RRTS project in Delhi-NCR, PM Modi laid the foundation stone for the regional rapid transit system near the Hindon Air Force Station through video conferencing. The RRTS project, a first-of-its-kind for India, and its regional corridors aim at providing a fast, convenient and pollution-free transit system, by connecting Delhi and the regional nodes of the national capital region (NCR).

NCRTC has already started the pre-construction activities for making this project a reality soon. Here is everything you need to know about the upcoming Delhi-Meerut rapid rail corridor, the trains that will ply on it, and other important facts:

1. The 82-km long Delhi-Meerut rapid rail corridor will pass through one of the most densely populated areas of the NCR and will connect Delhi to Uttar Pradesh, once its services begin.

2. There will be a total of 22 RRTS stations on the corridor on both, elevated and underground sections and the expected travel time for the journey is 55 minutes, according to NCRTC.

3. The RRTS trains with operational speed of 160 kmph and an average speed of 100 kmph, will be available at a frequency of every 5-10 minutes.

4. The trains will be equipped with modern features like CCTV surveillance, mobile/laptop charging points and luggage space.

4. There will be a total of nine coaches in RRTS trains and one of them will be a ‘business class’ coach which will be available for passengers willing to pay for extra facilities.

5. This will be the first time that a rapid rail network will have business class coach in the train.

6. The air-conditioned ‘business coach’ will have an overhead cabin for luggage, Wi-Fi connection, luxury seats and refreshments for the most comfortable travel one can imagine.

7. Separate entry and exit gates will be installed for the business class coach with Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) system such as QR code based tickets and near field communication (NFC) enabled phones. The AFC gates will be installed on the platform providing a direct access to the executive lounge area on the platforms.

8. All RRTS trains and stations will have universal accessibility as there would be priority seating arrangements for differently-abled or those with special needs, along with a business class coach and ladies coach in every train.

9. Joining city centre to another city’s centre, RRTS trains will reduce pollution as well as road congestion taking more than one lakh private vehicles off-road.

10. The Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor is the first of the three prioritized rapid rail corridors planned for implementation in the first phase. The other two are Delhi-Gurugram-Alwar and Delhi-Sonipat-Panipat corridors. These corridors will enhance the regional transport infrastructure for residents of Delhi, Gurugram, Rewari, Manesar, Bawal, Alwar and other nearby areas.