The Centre on Friday unveiled the first look of the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) train whose design is inspired by Delhi’s iconic Lotus Temple and can attain a top speed of 180 kilometres per hour on the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor. The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said with a radiating stainless steel outer body, the aerodynamic RRTS trains will be lightweight and fully air-conditioned.
They have been designed in such a way that natural sources of light and energy will flow into the trains, the ministry said. Each car will have six automatic plug-in type wide doors, three on each side for ease of access and exit. The business class will have four such doors, two on each side.
An official of the NationalCapital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) claimed that the RRTS trains will travel at a speed three times faster than the Delhi Metro. “RRTS trains will also have business class (one coach per train) with spacious, comfortable and reclining seats which will be accessible through a special lounge at the platform-level,” the official said.
The official claimed that people travelling on RRTS trains can have an ‘airplane-like’ experience as the coaches will have all modern facilities which are available inside a passenger aircraft. The 82-km-long Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor is the first RRTS corridor being implemented in India. The commute time from Delhi to Meerut will be reduced to less than an hour from the current 3-4 hours by road, the official said.
The prototype is scheduled to roll off the production line in 2022 and will be put into public use after extensive trials. The 17-km priority corridor of Delhi-Merrut RRTS from Sahibabad to Duhai will be operational in 2023 and the entire corridor will be operational in 2025, the official said.
“Delhi’s iconic Lotus Temple is an epitome of sustainability as its design allows flow of natural sources of light and air circulation. On similar lines, RRTS rolling stock will have lighting and temperature control systems to enhance passenger experience with less energy consumption,” a statement stated. The NCRTC, which is executing India’s first RRTS, will procure 30 train sets of six cars each for operating regional rail services on the entire corridor and ten train sets of three cars each for operating local transit services in Meerut.
The entire rolling stock for Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor will be manufactured at Bombardier’s Savli plant in Gujarat, it said. The trains have been designed while keeping in mind the high-acceleration and deceleration that they will need to undergo given the maximum operational speed of 160 kmph and stations at every 5-10 km.
“The RRTS trains will have transverse 2×2 seating with adequate legroom, optimised aisle width with grab handles and grab poles for a comfortable journey for standing passengers, overhead luggage rack, mobile and laptop charging sockets and on board WiFi among other commuter-centric features,” the statement said. Unveiling the train’s first look, HUA Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra said that infrastructure is one of the five pillars of ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Mishra said that it is a matter of great pride that these high-speed, high-frequency commuter trains for RRTS are entirely being manufactured under the government’s ‘Make in India’ policy. “The environment friendly, energy efficient trains will improve the quality of life in and around NCR by accelerating economic growth, creating economic opportunities and at the same time reducing air pollution, carbon footprint, congestion, and accidents,” he said.
NCRTC’s managing director Vinay Kumar said that the rolling stock of India’s first RRTS has been designed with a vision to fulfil the aspirations of New India. The rolling stock will be energy-efficient with about 30 per cent regeneration during braking, Kumar said.
The other two Phase-I RRTS corridors are Delhi-Gurugram-SNB and Delhi-Panipat. According to the NCRTC, pre-construction activities are in full swing for Delhi-Gurugram-SNB corridor and its detailed project report (DPR) is under active consideration of the government of India for sanction.
The DPR of the Delhi to Panipat RRTS corridor is also under active consideration of the respective state governments for approval, it added.
