IT is unusual for a rail project in India to be completed to budget and on time. Yet this has happened for the scheduled start of passenger services on the full 82km of the Delhi - Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS). The project is significant for another reason: it is India’s first urban rail project that incorporates financial instruments aiming to bring about economic growth through the creation of urban clusters in the National Capital Region (NCR) centred on Delhi.

Approved by the cabinet in 2019, the RRTS, also known as Namo Bharat, started operations last year and now runs for 82km following the opening of extensions from New Ashok Nagar to Sarai Kale Khan in New Delhi and from Meerut South to Modipuram. Six-car trains built by Alstom are in service on the line, with plans in place to introduce nine-car trains in the near future. Ridership is expected to reach 800,000 passengers a day by 2030.

The Delhi - Meerut corridor also provides the opportunity to use RRTS infrastructure to deploy stopping services at eight additional stations within Meerut using 10 three-car trains also built by Alstom under the same contract.

Another significant feature of the RRTS project is the use of international expertise for services and operations. The supply contract for the RRTS fleet awarded to Alstom includes maintenance, while German Rail’s (DB) international business, DB ECO, has been awarded a 15-year operations and maintenance contract.

With trains running at up to 160km/h, and at an average speed of 100km/h, RRTS showcases several innovations, including adoption of a 4G LTE telecoms network as the backbone of the ETCS Level 3 hybrid signalling system supplied by Alstom, the use of concrete slab track, and the adoption of international benchmarks to keep noise and vibration levels within prescribed limits.

RRTS also meets the challenge of building urban infrastructure in India by simultaneously addressing two key issues: it has developed management models to ensure financial sustainability through the generation of non-farebox revenue, and it is acting as a springboard for business development in the Delhi-NCR region.

Spread out over an enormous area of 1483km², covering eight districts of Uttar Pradesh, 13 of Haryana, two of Rajasthan, and the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, Delhi-NCR is among the largest metropolitan areas in the world and accounts for around 8% of India’s GDP. Policymakers are looking to the Delhi-Meerut RRTS to encourage business development in the region and have been working on fusing transport and urban development through the implementation of concepts such as transit-oriented development (TOD) and value capture financing (VCF). In the first trial of its kind, the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) that has built and operates RRTS will be a part-beneficiary of anticipated additional revenue streams.

Uttar Pradesh’s government, which is the major beneficiary of the RRTS project, has amended its Land Development Act and introduced new legislation to stimulate business and property development. At the Meerut end of the corridor, at Partapur and Modipuram, the district authorities have initiated plans to acquire 350ha in each location to develop greenfield projects. Special Development Areas (SDAs) have been identified, and zonal development plans are being prepared. NCRTC also wants the RRTS corridor to be declared as a special amenities project, enabling civic authorities to levy a special fee in exchange for the provision of utilities such as electricity, water and sewerage. A share of the revenue generated would be paid to NCRTC and reinvested for future development.

Ambitious plans

Development plans for the RRTS Delhi - Meerut corridor are ambitious. Two new cities are planned at Har Nandi Puram in Ghaziabad and New Meerut in Meerut. Land has been identified and is being acquired for the foundation of medical and engineering colleges. Plans are also being devised to incentivise small businesses along the route to scale up their activities and explore export potential.

While the outlook for future RRTS schemes appears good, both central and state governments have poor track records in following through with urban development projects. Institutional, administrative, and financial hurdles need to be overcome, as well as widespread inefficiency and corruption. While responsibility for both transport and urban development is entrusted to individual states, the intervention of central government might be required, due to the inability of state governments to raise funding for capital-intensive projects, as has been the case with RRTS.

Indian rail infrastructure projects, including the flagship Mumbai - Ahmedabad high-speed line, have often been delayed because of differences between central and state governments. The Delhi - Meerut RRTS is no exception. While the Uttar Pradesh government has been enthusiastic about promoting TOD and VCF concepts, the Delhi Development Authority, which comes under the administrative control of central government, has been sitting on VCF proposals to clear land around Anand Vihar and Sarai Kale Khan stations for property development.

The situation in India is further complicated by the fact that guidelines and legislation relating to urban development often vary from state to state and can even differ between districts within a state. In this context, the Delhi - Meerut RRTS, which has involved several states, has progressed remarkably well. Whether similar rail projects can been delivered as successfully remains to be seen, as challenges can emerge at any stage and for the unlikeliest of reasons.

The next two RRTS corridors are likely to be Delhi - Panipat and Delhi - Gurgaon - Alwar and they have been allocated priority status. Approximately 90% of the land required for the two lines has been acquired and planning consent from government departments has also been obtained. But policymakers are divided on a critical question: should trains on these lines run at speeds of 100km/h or more or should they operate like metro trains at lower speeds of around 30km/h? Deviation from the standards and benchmarks set by the inaugural Delhi - Meerut RRTS could threaten to derail plans for future lines.

RRTS timeline

June 2019 - Construction of Delhi - Meerut line begins
October 2023 - 17km Sahibabad - Duhai section opens
March 2024 - 17km Duhai - Modi Nagar North

RRTS notable suppliers

Slab track - Porr Austria
ETCS Hybrid Level 3 signalling - Alstom
Rigid catenary for tunnels - Ircon
4G LTE telecoms - Nokia