RRTS enters Capital, PM rides in from Gzb

Namo Bharat makes foray into Delhi

- Jasjeev Gandhiok and Varun Bhandari

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday morning inaugurated a 13km section of the Delhi-Meerut RRTS corridor from Sahibabad, Uttar Pradesh to New Ashok Nagar, east Delhi, marking the first entry of Namo Bharat trains into the national capital and connecting the city via the high-speed trains to Meerut.

Modi rode on a Namo Bharat train from Sahibabad to New Ashok Nagar station—the journey took less than 10 minutes. The section cost ₹4,600 crore to build and was opened to the public from 5pm onwards with a train frequency of 15 minutes.

HT rode on the train from New Ashok Nagar to the next station en route to Sahibabad, Anand Vihar, during which the train reached a top speed of 118 km/hr. People can now go from New Ashok Nagar to Meerut South in just 40 minutes on a Namo Bharat train (the Sahibabad to Meerut South RRTS route has been open since last year). Officials said that Namo Bharat trains can reach a top speed of 160 km/hr on this route.