Delhi-Meerut RRTS Launch: Commuters hail NaMo Bharat; Congress targets PM over naming

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 20 inaugurated the 17-kilometer priority section of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS). The transportation infrastructure project is aimed at improving connectivity and mobility in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri announced that the trains of RRTS would be known as 'Namo Bharat'.

Meanwhile, the Congress hit out at Modi over the naming of trains of the RRTS.

Also Read: Delhi-Meerut RRTS: All you need to know about India's first rapid rail train

"After Namo stadium now Namo trains. There is simply no limit to his self-obsession," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.

Another Congress leader, Pawan Khera, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, "Why even put Bharat? Just change the name of the country to Namo and be done with it."

A local, who arrived at the venue of the event in Sahibabad, Shubhank Agarwal told ANI, "This will be very important. This will be very convenient for all passengers going from Delhi to Meerut. Right now, it takes a lot of time to reach Meerut. When the RRTS Corridor becomes operational, commuting will become easy. Daily passengers of the route will find it convenient.”

Another Ghaziabad resident Rakesh Sharma said that he is very excited. "The crowd in the East Zone is dense and commuting is difficult. This network will reduce the travel time to Meerut and help people," he said.

German Ambassador to India, Philipp Ackermann, who was part of the inauguration told ANI, “I am very honoured and privileged to be here today...It is a fabulous project, the fastest train in India so far. It's a shuttle train that comes under NCRTC from Meerut to Delhi. It runs at a speed of 160 km/hr. It is run and operated by a German rail company Deutsche Bahn...”

Also read: PM Modi flags off Namo Bharat train

The PM interacted with school children and the crew of the RapidX train. The project is developed in line with his vision to transform regional connectivity in the country through construction of new world class transport infrastructure. The RRTS is a new rail-based, semi-high-speed, high-frequency commuter transit system.

Out of the total 82.15 km route, the section between Sahibabad and Duhai Depot, which holds priority, will open for passenger operations on October 21.