Delhi-NCR rapid rail to offer biz class travel, luxury

New Delhi: In a bid to encourage the elite class of the national capital region to take up public transport, the National Capital Region Transport Corporation’s (NCRTC) rapid rail transit system (RRTS) will provide business class coach for passengers willing to pay for the facilities.

It is will be the first time that a rail network will have a business class coach in the train. Among the 12 coaches, every RRTS train will have a business class coach at one end of the train.

The RRTS will be constructed in three phases and Phase 1 will include three corridors — Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut, Delhi-Sonipat-Panipat and Delhi-Gurugram-Rewari-Alwar. The alignment of the 126-km-long first phase from Sarai Kale Khan to Shahjahanpur-Neemrana-Behror (SNB) was finalised in June this year.

The “elite class” coach will be equipped with provisions of mobile and laptop charging points, overhead cabins for luggage, Wi-Fi and luxury seats.

Distinct entry and exit gates will be installed for passengers of “business coach” with an advanced automatic fare collection (AFC) system. Each RRTS train will also have a separate ladies coach.

The trains will have all the facilities of “universal access” so that it can be accessed easily by differently-abled people. RRTS trains will be aerodynamic due to high speed. Transverse sitting space will be provided (like aircraft/Shatabdi train).

The state-of-art RRTS will have inherent safety features even at high speeds. The entire eco-system of RRTS will be equipped with security personnel, CCTV cameras, monitoring from the control centre, etc. and will provide secure environment to passengers, especially female passengers.

The Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor is likely to start operating by 2024. The corridor will be highly fruitful for commuters because it will reduce travel time between the city and Meerut.

NCRTC is a joint venture of the Union government, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan.