“Very good facility”: First-day passengers travelling on Rapid X

Ghaziabad: Commuters on Saturday expressed their pleasure at travelling on India’s first Regional Rapid Transit System connecting Sahibabad to Duhai Depot.

PM Modi inaugurated the priority section of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS Corridor at Sahibabad RapidX Station in Uttar Pradesh and flagged off the RapidX train connecting Sahibabad to Duhai Depot, marking the launch of the Regional Rapid Transit System in the country.

“No matter how much money is spent; time should be saved. Because in the office I have to punch my attendance on time. Looks like a very good facility here. I have been travelling in the metro since 2002 and I have been waiting for this. Women are working here, it is a good thing to promote them,” a passenger told ANI.

Regional Rail, christened RAPIDX, will have an operational speed of 160 km per hour and several features including a women’s coach and a premium coach. RAPIDX will also have a train attendant.

“My route is different but I came here to see what is new. My route which takes one hour is being covered in half an hour. I am very happy about this. Facilities are also good here,” another passenger said.

The passenger operations in the inaugurated section begin on October 21. This section has five stations, Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Guldhar, Duhai and Duhai Depot. RAPIDX has a design speed of 180 km per hour and an operational speed of 160 km per hour, officials said, adding that the first corridor will be 82 km long connecting Delhi with Meerut.
A RapidX train will have six coaches with the capacity to carry about 1700 commuters. It includes both seating and standing space for the commuters.

RapidX will have a dedicated women’s coach on every train. To ensure safe and comfortable regional travel for women, the second coach while moving from Delhi to Meerut will be reserved for the women. This reserved coach will have a seating capacity of 72 passengers. An additional 10 seats are also reserved for women in other coaches of the train.