The National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) will introduce eight additional fast Namo Bharat train services during morning and evening peak hours from November 16, reducing travel time between Anand Vihar and Ghaziabad to just eight minutes. The limited-stop trains will operate on the Delhi-Meerut corridor, covering Anand Vihar to Begumpul in 36 minutes and Ghaziabad to Begumpul in 28 minutes. The entire corridor will be covered in less than 50 minutes, NCRTC said.
The fast services will stop at only five stations — Sarai Kale Khan, Anand Vihar, Ghaziabad, Begumpul and Modipuram — to reduce travel time for commuters, particularly office-goers and students travelling during rush hours, it said.
During morning peak hours, two trains in each direction will depart from Sarai Kale Khan and Modipuram at 8 am and 8.30 am. Similarly, during the evening peak hours, two fast trains will leave from both terminal stations at 6:00 PM and 6:30 PM in each direction. In the evening, the additional services will depart from both terminal stations at 6 pm and 6.30 pm.
The eight additional trains will operate alongside regular Namo Bharat services, which will continue to run at an interval of 10 minutes, ensuring that the existing service frequency remains unchanged.
About 1.1 lakh commuters are travelling every day on the corridor, with consistent growth in daily footfall being witnessed with every passing day. The corridor recently crossed the landmark milestone of 5 crore commuter journeys, and over the past three months alone, the system recorded an average monthly ridership of more than 32 lakh, NCRTC said.
The enhanced services are also aimed at encouraging commuters to shift to public transport amid rising pollution and reducing road congestion across the region, it stated.