INDIA’s first Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) or Namo Bharat line was formally opened in its 82km entirety from New Delhi to Meerut by prime minister, Narendra Modi, on February 22.

Now that the final 27km of line is open, trains operate at up to 160km/h at a frequency of every 10 minutes, covering the distance from Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi to Modipuram in Meerut in 55 minutes.

At the same time the 23km Meerut Metro, which uses RRTS infrastructure , has also opened to passengers. Billed as India's fastest metro with a maximum speed of 120km/h, Meerut Metro has 13 stations and offers an end-to-end journey time of 30 minutes, officials say.

The Meerut Metro opened at the same time as the RRTS.
Photo Credit: CC BY-SA 4.0/Ravi Dwivedi

Passengers can change between the RRTS and Metro services at four stations: Meerut South, Shatabdi Nagar, Begum Pul and Modipuram. With the Meerut Metro now open, the total length of India’s metro lines is estimated to have grown to 1100km across 24 cities, according to official sources.

The Delhi - Meerut RRTS has opened in phases. The first 17km priority section linking Sahibabad to Duhai opened in October 2023, with line length increasing to 54km when Modi inaugurated the New Ashok Nagar - Meerut South section in January 2025.

Last year, the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) approved the opening to passenger service of the final two sections: the 6km between Sarai Kale Khan and New Ashok Nagar in Delhi; and the 21km between Meerut South and Modipuram, as well as the Metro section from Meerut South to Modipuram.

Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi has been developed as a multi-modal hub. The station is connected to Hazrat Nizamuddin station on the Indian Railways (IR) network, the Pink Line of the Delhi Metro and the inter-state bus terminal. The station will also be the future city-centre terminus of the next lines planned under the next phase of the RRTS programme, including Delhi - Bawal (93.1km) and Delhi - Karnal (136.3km), which await final approval from the Indian government for construction to proceed.

For an in-depth feature on the RRTS programme, see IRJ March, p20.