Around 2,900 passengers use Namo Bharat train daily in Ghaziabad in first 3 months
On October 20 last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 17-km-long priority section of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS Corridor
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Data shows that after the RRTS was opened to the public on October 21, a total of 63,582 passengers used the service in that month alone.Around 2,900 passengers on average are using the Regional Rapid Train, ‘Namo Bharat’ daily in Ghaziabad, according to data obtained by The Indian Express under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
On October 20 last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 17-km-long priority section of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS Corridor. Currently, five stations — Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Guldhar, Duhai and Duhai Depot — are operational. As per the data, over 2.79 lakh passengers have used India’s first rapid rail service since then.
An official of the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) said most passengers currently are either from Sahibabad and going to Duhai or vice-versa. He said the actual ridership picture will become clear once the next stage of the corridor — an additional 25-km-long section ahead of the priority section up to Meerut South — becomes operational.
“This section was not (made operational) from the ridership point of view. It was a test for the complete corridor. Also, it is a very small stretch. Many school or college-going students are using the service currently. As there are no big offices on the route so far, the number of people using the Namo train to get to work is not much. However, when it becomes operational till Meerut, it will become a long section of about 50 km; obviously, more people will use it due to the longer distance,” said the official on the condition of anonymity.
Data shows that after the RRTS was opened to the public on October 21, a total of 63,582 passengers used the service in that month alone. In November 2023, a total of 71,124 passengers traveled on the train. Similarly, in December 2023 and till January 23, 2024, a total of 72,335 passengers and 72,382 passengers used the RRTS. Taking the average of total journeys of these 95 days, then a total of 2,941 people are traveling on the rapid train every day.
Meanwhile, the NCRTC, a joint venture company of the Government of India and state governments that is implementing the RRTS projects, has earned around Rs 83.98 lakh from ticket sales. According to official figures, income in October, November and December was Rs 27.05 lakh, Rs 23.77 lakh and Rs 20.03 lakh respectively. From January 1-23, the department earned Rs 13.12 lakh from tickets.
According to NCRTC’s feasibility report, once the complete 82-km-long corridor from Delhi’s Sarai Kale Khan to Modipuram in Meerut is operational, the daily passenger footfall is expected to be around 8 lakh. “The Line up to Meerut South will become operational by March end… For last-mile connectivity, talks are on with UPSRTC (Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation),” said the official quoted above.
The single journey fare for the standard class is Rs 20 to Rs 50; for the premium class, the fare is from Rs 40 to Rs 100.
The entire corridor, having 14 stations, is targeted to be operational by June 2025; it is expected to bring down travel time between Delhi and Meerut to less than an hour. It is being developed at Rs 30,274 crore.
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