NEW DELHI: Although the SilverLine project proposed by the Kerala government failed to get approval from the Centre. a similar high-speed rail project has started operations in the Delhi-Meerut route under the name RapidX. RapidX, which began services on the 17-km stretch of the Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 20. Its maximum speed is 180 km per hour.

Delhi-Gurugram-Alwar Corridor (Rajasthan) and Delhi-Panipat Corridor (Haryana) will also be implemented in the first phase. In the future, a corridor connecting Kerala and neighbouring states will also come up.

On October 20, the Prime Minister inaugurated the 17 km Sahibabad-Duhai Depot route in Uttar Pradesh, the first phase of RapidX. The total length is 82 km. RapidX connects the major cities of the two states at high speed. There will be underground tracks in cities and elevated tracks elsewhere. The foundation stone of the project was laid by the Prime Minister on March 8, 2019. The Centre's definition of the project is a rail-based high-frequency transport system. The project is aimed at facilitating movement between airports, railway stations, inter-state bus terminals and metro stations. It will also help reduce road congestion and air pollution.

Delhi-Meerut RRTS

• 82 km from Sarai Kale Khan station in Delhi to Modipuram in Meerut via Ghaziabad.
• People can reach Delhi from Meerut in one hour via Ghaziabad, Muradnagar and Modinagar cities.
• Total 16 stations, Depots in Duhai and Modipuram. Of the entire length, 68.03 km (42.27 mi) is elevated, 14.12 km (8.77 mi) is underground.
• Connects Sarai Kale Khan Station, Nizamuddin Metro, Sarai Kale Bus Station and Hazrat Nizamuddin Station

Total expense- 30,000 crores

1750 people can travel

1750 passengers can travel on the six-coach AC train. There will be one coach for women. The trainsets are being manufactured at a manufacturing facility of M/S Alstom (erstwhile Bombardier) located in Savli, Gujrat.