Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated the priority section of India’s first semi-high-speed Regional Rapid Train Service (RRTS) in Ghaziabad city of Uttar Pradesh.
He also flagged off the first train named "NaMo Bharat" connecting Sahibabad and Duhai towns of Ghaziabad. Earlier, the train had been named RapidX, but federal minister Hardeep Singh Puri in a tweet announced that it has been renamed.
The train on the priority section will be operational for the passengers from 21 October, whereas the entire RRTS corridor will be operational by June 2025.
Apart from Modi, Uttar Pradesh state chief Yogi Adityanath, German Ambassador to India Philipp Ackermann, and various other officials were present during the inauguration.
During the ceremony, while addressing the gathering in Ghaziabad, Modi said that it was a historic day, as the first rapid rail service was being dedicated to the nation.
Sharing his experience of travelling via the rapid rail, Modi said that he had spent his childhood on railway platforms and that the new form of railway fills him with joy.
Regional Rapid Train Service (RRTS)
© Photo : Photo:X (former Twitter)/@HardeepSPuri
A curious fact is that the first NaMo Bharat train was operated by an entirely female crew, which Modi termed as “a symbol of growing women empowerment in India”.
The RRTS corridor is a state-of-the-art regional mobility solution and is comparable to the best in the world. It is set to offer secure, reliable, and contemporary intercity transportation solutions.
The trains running along the corridor will have features like overhead storage, Wi-Fi, and charging options at every seat. As per media reports, the fare at the priority section of standard class will be between INR 20-50, depending on the journey, while the fare of the premium class will be between INR 40-100.
There will be a total of eight RRTS corridors out of which three corridors – Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut, Delhi-Gurugram-SNB-Alwar and Delhi-Panipat – have been prioritised.