Delhi-Meerut RRTS: Section from Sahibabad to Duhai Depot starts this month

The work on the 17-km-long priority stretch of RAPIDX, India's first regional train service, is now complete and it is expected to begin its operations by the end of this month, The Economic Times (ET) reported, citing a senior government official.

The portion will have five stations: Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Guldhar, Duhai and Duhai Depot. It is a part of the Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS).

In June, the commissioner for Metro Rail Safety had approved the operation of the RAPIDX service in this section.

Trains on the RRTS are expected to run at an operational speed of 160 kmph. According to ET, This will be the first railway system in the country that will be operational across its entire length at this speed.

It added that the work on 42-km-long Sahibabad to Meerut South station has also been completed.

The semi-high-speed regional rail service named 'RAPIDX' by the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), is a joint venture company of the Centre with the governments of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

The NCRTC aims to commission the entire 82-km Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut stretch for the public by 2025.

Earlier, the Times of India (TOI) reported that people travelling in the RAPIDX transport system will be able to use the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system to purchase tickets. This would make RAPIDX the first transport network to leverage UPI technology. Commuters will be able to use UPI to buy tickets using RAPIDX ticket vending machines (TVMs).

Apart from TVMs, RAPIDX will have several other ticketing options, such as commuter cards or national common mobility cards (NCMC).

Commuters will have the option to generate a digital QR code from RAPIDX Connect, the all-in-one mobile application, and make ticket payments.