India

NCRTC Adds Eight Fast Namo Bharat Trains to Delhi‑Meerut Corridor from Nov. 16

By HT News Desk

The National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) will introduce eight new limited‑stop Namo Bharat train services on the Delhi‑Meerut corridor starting November 16. The fast trains will run during morning and evening peak hours, with two departures from Sarai Kale Khan and Modipuram at 8:00 am and 8:30 am, and two departures from the same terminals at 6:00 pm and 6:30 pm. They will stop only at five stations – Sarai Kale Khan, Anand Vihar, Ghaziabad, Begumpur and Modipuram – and are expected to cut travel time between Anand Vihar and Ghaziabad to eight minutes. Passengers traveling from Anand Vihar to Begumpur will cover the distance in 36 minutes, while the Ghaziabad‑Begumpur leg will take 28 minutes. According to the NCRTC, the entire corridor will be traversed in less than 50 minutes. The new services will operate alongside existing Namo Bharat trains, which will continue to run every 10 minutes. Passengers are advised to check station display boards and platform announcements to distinguish fast services from regular ones. The Delhi‑Meerut corridor currently serves about 110,000 passengers daily and has recorded more than five crore passenger journeys to date. Over the past three months, the network averaged over 32 lakh monthly ridership. The additional trains aim to encourage public transport use amid rising air pollution and to ease road congestion in the region.