Govt looks to increase RRTS lines, but funding, viability questions remain

Even though the cost savings in time-value metrics are significant, the RRTS routes are yet to find a viable public-private financing model

An aerial view of the Delhi-Meerut RRTS route. The erstwhile Planning Commission had noted there would be savings of ~3,180 crore by 2035 for the economy based on assessment of the hourly value of time for commuters in Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Meerut sh — An aerial view of the Delhi-Meerut RRTS route. The erstwhile Planning Commission had noted there would be savings of ~3,180 crore by 2035 for the economy based on assessment of the hourly value of time for commuters in Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Meerut. (Photo: Shutterstock)

7 min read Last Updated : Apr 10 2025 | 10:21 PM IST

(This is the second part of a three-part series on regional connectivity) Every week, Anjali Singh waits for the 9 p.m. 'metro' to Meerut South, back from the shop where she works in Lajpat Nagar in South Delhi. She could take a later one but years of having to put safety first in the bus journeys she had to take earlier has hardwired her to take an early train. The Rapid Rail Transit System, inaugurated between New Ashok Nagar in Delhi all the way deep inside Meerut has not changed those habits.

Just as the ring of airports along Ganga are bridging the densely populated three states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, the RRTS have begun to do so for daily commuters, albeit on a less ambitious scale.

These trains, in the absence of any other moniker, are still known as a 'metro', a more-recognizable word for intra-city train travel. High speed intercity trains like the Delhi-Meerut one have been clubbed under the same nomenclature. The similar-looking turnstile gates, online tickets, clean platforms and AC compartments which dot the platforms make the comparisons easier to apply.

Off to a flying start

India’s first RRTS between Delhi and Meerut South began its commercial run in January this year; nonetheless, it has already ferried 7 million passengers, with a daily ridership of 35,784 in February 2025, the last month for which official data is available. There are 11 operational stations which are expected to increase to 18 once the full 82.15 km is completed, all the way from Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi to Modipuram. At least two more RRTS lines - Delhi-Gurugram-Alwar and Delhi-Panipat - have been approved by a Niti Aayog task force.

"Once cities cross a scale, transport options like bus are impossible to apply for the longest nodes," says OP Agarwal, former IAS officer, transport economist and principal author of the national urban transport policy which has more or less guided urban transport plans and investments since 2006.

Delhi and Meerut are in neighbouring states, but are close enough that more than a million people travel the distance daily. Many like Anjali rent cramped accommodation in Delhi during the week and travel to their homes only on the weekend. It is a prospect neither she nor her family relishes. Thankfully, women like her find the routes much safer even at night. A report prepared by the erstwhile Planning Commission had noted there will be potential savings of Rs 31.8 billion by the year 2035 for the economy based on assessment of the hourly value of time for commuters in Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Meerut.

Given those time-money savings, the ministry of urban affairs plans to construct more RRTS between other cities. Agarwal says similar options can be explored between Lucknow and Kanpur or between Kolkata and its adjacent cities like Asansol.

Not everyone is convinced, though. “I don't think the RRTS is the solution for the transport needs or the requirements of the public. These projects are of big ticket size and there requires calibration of the present needs with the future plans," says D Dhanuraj, founder-chairman of the Centre for Public Policy Research, a public policy think-tank based in Kochi.

As of now flights seem the easier way out, than boxing through challenges on the road. The Lucknow—Kanpur Namo Bharat project has been on the drawing board since 2016. In the absence of land corridors, the Railways has planned to use the existing rail lines to run high speed trains like Vande Bharat between the two cities, as railway minister Ashwini Vaishnav said in July 2024. But a congested timetable leaves little space for this option too. "Investing in one big ticket project is not going to meet the demands of inter-city travel," argues Dhanuraj.

Financing woes

The challenge, both Agarwal and Dhanuraj agree, is to find a viable public-private partnership to shoulder the cost of these projects. Unlike airports, where even smaller ones like Andal in West Bengal have found potential investors like the Sajjan Jindal group, there is little chance yet that these RRTS projects will find such interest.

As a result, it is the central government which is mostly left to finance the RRTS projects. The Delhi-Meerut project alone cost Rs 30,274 crore. The recently approved Delhi-Panipat-Karnal Namo Bharat project, covering approximately 136.30 km between Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi and Karnal in Haryana, will also cost a similar amount.

Agarwal explains why these RRTS lines are not economically great bargains. “Just as the Mumbai local trains see huge traffic in the morning and evenings but are very lean otherwise, these projects run the risk of similar traffic pattern”, he said. Else, the costs could bounce back on the state governments.

Companies like National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), the joint venture company of Govt of India and States of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, under the administrative control of ministry of housing and urban affairs, which will run these projects, could explore the option of running the train sets on longer intercity routes in those intervals, to draw in both passengers and freight. This will need collaboration with the Indian Railways, making it a long haul. The Railways have pushed back a plan to private trains on its rolling stock, despite advertising such a move in 2022.

Implementation bottlenecks

While Dhanuraj notes that land acquisition challenges will bog down these projects, especially in eastern UP and West Bengal, where "coordination among different agencies having a huge stake in the economic development of the region are always a big challenge", the Centre has begun to get around those by administrative formations like the Network Planning Group. Usually hosted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), it is tasked with evaluating infrastructure projects in the metro, RRTS, road, and airport sectors. The meetings focus on enhancing multimodal connectivity and logistics efficiency in alignment with the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan.

Research on this subject is limited. A paper in the 'International Journal of Financial Management and Economics' comparing London’s RRTS with the Delhi model notes that what works towards greater self-sufficiency is a well-integrated transport network and advanced ticketing systems. While innovative revenue generation models help, government interventions will have to continue.

The government, however, sees these as grand opportunities to cut commuting time and thus improve liveability in the towns next to large metros. For instance, the government's press statement about the Karnal RRTS notes: "The corridor is designed to operate at an average speed of 90 kmph, offering a significantly faster transit option compared to the existing modes of transport. The project is expected to reduce travel time from the current 3.5–4 hours to approximately 90 minutes, thereby enhancing connectivity between Delhi and key centres in Haryana."