Officials said preparations for extending operations of Namo Bharat Rapid Rail from Modinagar North Station to Meerut South Station are nearing completion.
Sahibabad (Ghaziabad) to Modinagar North (Ghaziabad) train runs daily from 6 AM to 10 PM to Meerut South Station after dropping passengers at Modi Nagar.
Its next stop is the Meerut South station on the border of Meerut, which will benefit eight lakh people from the region and surrounding cities traveling between Meerut and Delhi.
Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Puneet Vats said that the Meerut South station is almost ready and trains can be run to this station soon.
“The date of operation till Meerut South is yet to be decided but the trial run was already there and it will be opened for passengers soon,” Watts said.
The Namo Bharat Rapid Rail will stop at Meerut South and in the coming months, its operations will be extended to Shatabdi Nagar, Begum Pul and Modipuram stations, which are currently under construction, officials said.
The CPRO declined to mention a specific date when the service will start. This is because the 'date' will depend on the approval of the ministry, he said. However, he expected the new service to resume “soon” as the station is “almost ready”.
Apart from these four stations, only metro services will be available at other stations. In such a case, people will be able to change the train according to their convenience to go further. The Commissioner of Railway Safety recently approved the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) to run trains on behalf of the Metro to Meerut South.
The new connectivity is expected to boost business between Meerut-Ghaziabad and Delhi, officials said.
“The prices of properties falling on the train routes are also increasing and the NCRTC has conducted a demand survey for the Delhi Road and Roorkee Road Zonal Plan of the Rapid Corridor,” officials said. Officials said the rapid rail and Meerut Metro will share the same track for some length and few stations. The length of the Meerut Metro Corridor is 23 km, of which 18 km is elevated and 5 km is underground. Meerut has 13 stations out of which 9 stations are elevated and 3 stations are underground. One station (depot station) will be at ground level.