Alstom (former Bombardier) is about to deliver India’s first semi-high-speed Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) train to the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC). The NCRTC is preparing to start trial operations this year on the 17 km priority road section between Sahibabad and Duhai, which will open to commuters early next year.

The 82 km Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS will be designed to reach speeds of 180 km/h, the first of its kind in India’s regional transport system. Trains run every 5 to 10 minutes and cover the distance between Delhi and Meerut in 55 minutes, with 14 stops. The corridor is expected to handle approximately 800,000 daily ridership.

The infrastructure will also be used to provide local transport services between Meerut South and Modipuram Depot Station, 13 stations (including RRTS and four public stations at Meerut South, Shatabdi Nagar, Begumpul and Modipuram) over 21 km.

According to NCRTC, modern RRTS trains will feature ergonomically designed 2×2 lateral seats, ample standing space, luggage racks, CCTV cameras, laptop/mobile charging facilities, dynamic route maps, automatically controlled ambient lighting systems and other amenities. The air-conditioned RRTS trains will have standard and premium cars (one coach per train) and one exclusively for female commuters.

Work is in full swing on the 82 km Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor with 25 stations, including two at Duhai and Modipuram and one stable at Jangpura. The NCRTC has awarded Bombardier a contract to manufacture and maintain 210 commuter and city buses for the Derry-Meerut regional rapid transit system in 2020. The contract is worth about 25.77 billion rupees ($340 million) and provides an order for an additional 90 vehicles