Delhi–Meerut Namo Bharat. Daily ridership has nearly doubled in a year: 47,745 in July 2025 to 94,936 in July 2026. It crossed 1 lakh a day this summer Single-day peak: 1,68,510 on August 28 📅 Sunday ridership drops only 15–20%. 82 km of fast, reliable, accessible rail . Meerut stops being “far from Delhi” and becomes part of it, without anyone having to move into an already choking Delhi. Now the disappointing part. Delhi–Meerut was meant to be the first of several corridors. Delhi–Alwar and Delhi–Karnal are still awaiting approval. The Gurugram–Noida link is still on paper. Even after approval, each one takes 5–6 years to build. Planners had projected 7.4 lakh daily riders by 2028, but that number assumed a network. Officials themselves say ridership will jump once the network effect kicks in, as it did for Delhi Metro. But it is currently one strong line and stopped there. Plus this shouldn’t stop at the NCR. Chennai–Chengalpattu–Kanchipuram. Bengaluru–Mysuru–Tumakuru. Mumbai–Pune–Nashik. Hyderabad–Warangal. Ahmedabad–Vadodara. And many more RRTS is the best tool India has for managed urbanisation. It spreads growth into satellite towns instead of cramming it into a single megacity. It lets people live in affordable towns and still earn metropolitan wages. Meerut has shown the way. Approve the next lines. Replicate the model. via @IndianExpress