Since RAPIDX will be connecting Delhi with industrial towns and suburban areas of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, the Rapid Regional Transit System (RRTS), designed to reach a speed of 180kmph, will be used to move cargo in the non-peak hours. The depots will have warehouses and different trains may be used to haul cargo.
Vinay Kumar Singh, managing director, NCRTC, which is executing the project, told TOI, “During non-peak hours, the ridership would be low, so we can use the time to move cargo, including perishable goods.”
Singh said that two studies had been carried out and they showed interesting and encouraging results. “A lot of money has been invested in the project and we have to employ every opportunity to earn. But even if we don’t earn money, moving the goods will help decongesting roads and reduce smoke and pollution,” said Singh.
The NCRTC MD said RAPIDX would help the logistics sector indirectly too. “People will be able to move seamlessly in the national capital region quickly with RAPIDX covering 90km in an hour,” Singh said. “A doctor from Delhi currently may be reluctant to travel to Meerut for a two-hour work in a hospital because he will be spending six hours on travel. When RAPIDX becomes operational, the quality of doctors available in Meerut may suddenly change.”
NCRTC is planning depots to have warehouses and other facilities to handle cargo. This will allow easy transportation of goods between the suburban towns of NCR. On the Delhi-Ghaziabad- Meerut line, warehouses will come at Modipuram in Meerut, Duhai in Ghaziabad and Jangpura in Delhi.
The Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor is expected to become operational in 2025 and the decision on cargo movement will be taken after passenger movement starts on the entire corridor. A 17-km priority section between Sahibabad and Duhai depot with five stations is expected to start running soon.
Delhi-Gurgaon-SNB-Alwar and Delhi-Panipat are the other two corridors, which will close the gap between Delhi and the industrial, educational and hospitality hubs of Haryana and Rajasthan. The former will be constructed in three stages, with a 107km stretch from Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi to SNB Urban Complex (Shahjahanpur-Neemrana-Behror) in the first stage, followed by SNB to Sotanala (33.3km), with Shahjahanpur, Neemrana and Behror in between, and the SNB to Alwar (58km) extension in the third stage.
Heading out in a north-westerly direction from Delhi, the Delhi-Panipat corridor will connect Delhi with Murthal, Gannaur, Samalkha and Panipat in Haryana.
