New Delhi: On the eve of Raksha Bandhan Thursday, the Delhi–Ghaziabad-Meerut Namo Bharat corridor recorded its highest-ever daily ridership of over 1.6 lakh passengers. Officials expect this number to increase Friday as lakhs of people are likely to take Namo Bharat trains to celebrate the festival.The 82-km Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor was inaugurated on Feb 22 with an average ridership of over 1 lakh passengers. Prior to the inauguration, a 55-km section comprising 11 stations was operational and was catering to a daily ridership of around 55,000-60,000. Begumpul, Ghaziabad and Anand Vihar have emerged as the busiest stations along the corridor.Expecting that ridership will increase, National Capital Region Transport Corporation added 47 additional Namo Bharat train trips on the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor on Aug 27 and 28. With these additional trips, Namo Bharat services were available every eight minutes on both days. Officials said average ridership currently ranges over 1 lakh.Before Thursday, the corridor recorded the highest ever average daily ridership with 1,49,922 commuters on Aug 3. The previous highest daily ridership of around 1,25,500 commuters was recorded on June 8.With a design speed of 180 kmph and a maximum operational speed of 160 kmph, Namo Bharat trains take 54 minutes to Begumpul and 58 minutes from Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi to reach Modipuram in Meerut. The maximum standard fare is Rs 210 from Sarai Kale Khan to Modipuram. Passengers opting for the premium coach pay 20% extra.
