High On Rides: Delhi-Meerut RRTS Namo Bharat Crosses 2 Crore Trips Even Before Completion

Last Updated:December 12, 2025, 15:48 IST

The completion of the route will offer full city-centre to city-centre Delhi–Meerut connectivity, further strengthening daily regional mobility.

At present the service has connected a 55-km section with 11 stations between New Ashok Nagar in Delhi and Meerut South. (PTI Photo)

The Delhi-Meerut RRTS Service, called the Namo Bharat, has already crossed two crore commuter trips even before completion of its full route, the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) announced on Friday.

Started in October 2023 on just 17 km between Sahibabad and Duhai Depot in Ghaziabad, the corridor recorded a ridership of over 72,000 in November 2023. At present the service has connected a 55-km section with 11 stations between New Ashok Nagar in Delhi and Meerut South.

The train service on the remaining sections — from Sarai Kale Khan to New Ashok Nagar in Delhi and from Meerut South to Modipuram in Meerut — is yet to start.

The completion of the route will offer full city-centre to city-centre Delhi–Meerut connectivity, further strengthening daily regional mobility. Looking ahead, integration with Meerut Metro and Delhi Metro services on the Delhi–Meerut corridor will make journeys even more seamless.

Over the months, Namo Bharat has firmly established itself as a preferred mode of commute in the region, the NCRTC said.

“The crossing of 2 crore commuter trips indicates a sustained shift in intercity travel behaviour within NCR, with a growing number of passengers choosing Namo Bharat for regular work, education, medical, and personal travel. It also reflects the role of Namo Bharat in reducing dependence on road-based travel along one of the region’s busiest corridors," the NCRTC said in a statement.

Slow Yet Sturdy Growth

With phased expansion to Modinagar North in March 2024 and further to Meerut South in August 2024, ridership continued to rise steadily. By the end of 2024, with 42 km and nine stations operational, monthly ridership rose to about 7 lakhs in December, almost 10 times of the recorded ridership in December 2023, marking the growing popularity of this new-age mobility solution. By December 2024, the service offered ridership to over 50 lakh commuters in total.

Delhi Link

The real change came when the 13-km Delhi section from New Ashok Nagar to Sahibabad was started in January 2025. With this inauguration, two stations in Delhi became operational, including Anand Vihar – a crucial multi-modal hub.

This not only connected Delhi to Meerut but also unlocked a much larger commuter base, with passengers from across the National Capital and adjoining states able to seamlessly access the system.

Following this expansion, monthly ridership was inching towards 15 lakhs by July, more than double of the previous year, and the system recorded a highest-ever single-day ridership of over 81,550 commuters.

“At present, the average daily ridership is being recorded at 55,000-60,000 and with the inauguration of the entire corridor soon, Namo Bharat is going to serve lakhs of commuters daily," the statement added.

The steady rise in commuter numbers has been driven by reduced travel time between Delhi and Meerut, a comfortable travel experience, consistent train operations, and predictable journeys during peak hours. NCRTC, considering the increasing commuter demands, reduced the frequency of Namo Bharat Trains from 15 mins to 10 mins and has the system in place to further reduce it up to 3 mins.

Extreme summer heat, monsoon rains, and high-demand festive periods, when road-based travel was affected by congestion and delays, people turned to Namo Bharat for respite, the NCRTC added. However, once they experienced the speedy, airconditioned, comfortable, value of money travel in Namo Bharat, they never went back, it said.

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