When will the Delhi-Meerut Rapid Rail Metro (RRTS) start?

The plan for a regional rapid transit service to connect Delhi with nearby towns was proposed in the late 1990s. The initial target was a rapid connectivity to Meerut which is the largest city around Delhi and existing colonial era rail network between Ghaziabad and Meerut was partly single line leading to bottlenecks. Daily commuters to Delhi were packed like Sardine fish inside the train.

True to congress style of functioning in a ‘sarkari’ way, nothing happened on the ground. As Delhi Metro expanded in 2000s, there was a plan to extend on of its branch to Meerut. This was not found feasible (cost factor as that time Delhi Metro was broad gauge). Hence, National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) was formed in 2013 and its RRTS corridors were renamed as Rapidx Metro in 2023.

On 8 March 2019, PM Modi laid the foundation for the first Rapidx corridor Delhi – Meerut (82 KM) and PM Modi inaugurated first phase of this project Sahibabad – Duhai (17 KM) on 20 October 2023. This achievement is despite two year of Covid-19 pandemic impacted national projects. Some of the highlights of Rapidx is – semi-high speed (180 KMPH), ballast less track, standard gauge rolling stock, dedicated route (elevated or underground), world class facility and amenities.

Modi and BJP government always give maximum priority for infrastructure development for economic benefit over cheap politics of congress. Congress always took decades to finish national projects.

Meerut Rapidx is just one such example. Hundreds of examples can be given in the domain of metro train, rail bridges, rail and road tunnels, airport and mega structure development etc. Some examples are –

Noida Metro – 2 years

Lucknow Metro – 2 years

New parliament Building – 2 years (despite Covid-19)

Now let’s look at some congress era project examples-

Kolkata Metro – 2 decades (first 16 KM) (1972-1995)

Indira Gandhi (Rajasthan) canal – 3 decades

Sardar Sarovar dam – 5 decades

There can be 100s of project delay examples in congress era like these due to corruption. One similar case is Bullet train (Mumbai-Ahmedabad) being built.

100% land acquisition in Maharashtra completed only in October 2023 and hence project completion has been extended to 2028. The project was initiated on 14 September 2017 and the original deadline was December 2023. The reason for delay is land acquisition problems under 2.5 year Shiv Sena (Uddhav) and congress state government (2019-2022) where the project was almost halted. What happened in Maharashtra will happen in Karnataka now as they spent Rs 60K Crore annually on 5 poll promise freebies and state government stated that big projects will be delayed.

During same time, China is building a much smaller length Bullet Train in Indonesia, Jakarta – Bandung which has become operational in October 2023. China uses these examples to mock Indian democracy, political system, project execution delays and decision making or lack of it.

Indonesia President travelled on newly China built Bullet Train.

History says congress is opposite of progress

Congress is all about sycophancy, dynasty worship, and corruption with project delays

Picture source: Google / Respective rightful owner

Congress is the opposite of progress: PM Narendra Modi

In a dig at the Congress party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today that "if con is the opposite of pro, then Congress is the opposite of progress".

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/congress-is-the-opposite-of-progress-pm-narendra-modi/articleshow/47445704.cms

High-speed rail in India - Wikipedia

Overview of High-speed rail in India Indian Railways does not currently have any operational high-speed rail lines, though a total of eight corridors have been approved, with the corridor between Mumbai and Ahmedabad under construction. [1] As of 2023, the fastest train services in India are the Gatimaan Express and Rani Kamalapati (Habibganj)–Hazrat Nizamuddin Vande Bharat Express with peak operational speed of 160 km/h (99 mph) on the Tughlakabad – Agra Cantonment section of the route. [2] E5 Series Shinkansen of JR East . The series which is set to be used on the Mumbai–Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor . The first high-speed railway corridor between Mumbai and Ahmedabad ( 508 km (316 mi)) is currently under construction with a designed maximum operational speed of 320 km/h (199 mph). [3] [4] The corridor will use standard gauge , instead of the more prevalent broad gauge on the rest of the rail network, and will be built with Shinkansen technology. It is expected to carry passengers between the two cities in around three hours and the ticket prices are expected to be competitive with air travel. This project was initially targeted for completion by December 2023, however, owing mainly to land acquisition issues in Maharashtra and the COVID-19 pandemic, it is now expected to be completed by October 2028. However, a portion of this line between Surat and Bilimora is planned to be opened by 2026. [5] [6] Background [ edit ] Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets Japanese PM Abe before boarding a N700 Series Shinkansen to Kobe . The Ministry of Railways white-paper "Vision 2020", [7] submitted to the parliament on 18 December 2009, [8] envisaged the implementation of regional high-speed rail projects to provide services at 250–350 km/h (155–217 mph), and planning for corridors connecting commercial, tourist, and pilgrimage hubs. At the 2014 general elections , the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) expressed its desire to build the Diamond Quadrilateral high speed rail project, which would connect the cities of Chennai , Delhi , Kolkata , and Mumbai via high-speed rail. [9] This project was approved as a priority for the new government in the incoming president's speech. [10] Construction of one kilometre of high speed railway track was estimated to cost ₹ 100 crore (US$13 million) – ₹ 140 crore (US$18 million) which is estimated to be 10–14 times higher than the cost of construction of standard railway. [11] The new high-speed rail lines with will be standard gauge , whereas older tracks which could be upgraded to higher speeds will have a 5 ft 6 in ( 1,676 mm ) broad gauge . There can, therefore, be no interoperability between the new lines and the older-upgraded tracks for passenger and cargo traffic, unless it is decided to use variable gauge systems in future. Definition and terminology [ edit ] According to the Ministry of Railways , a route which has trains operating between 160 and 200 km/h (99 and 124 mph) is considered as a higher speed or semi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_India

80% Indians Have A Favourable View Of PM Modi: Pew Research Survey

About 80 per cent of Indians have a favourable view of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and around seven in 10 Indians believe their country has recently become more influential, according to a survey by the PEW Research Center.

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/80-indians-have-a-favourable-view-of-pm-narendra-modi-pew-research-survey-4342877