House panel recommends expansion of rapid rail networks in regions beyond NCR

New Delhi: The standing committee on housing and urban affairs has said the government should introduce rapid rail transport systems (RRTS) around major cities to decongest them and curb rising pollution levels.

Currently, the country's only RRTS project is underway in the National Capital Region, with plans to connect Delhi with Meerut, Alwar and Panipat through three different corridors.

The panel noted that a big rise in population in Delhi and its adjoining areas resulted in problems of housing, transportation, pollution and necessitated planning of Delhi and the surrounding region leading to the development of RRTS network.

The panel said that there is a need to develop similar systems for cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru to solve the problems of insufficient infrastructure and congestion.

"Thus, modern transportation solution like the RRTS is the need of the hour so as to enable people to live in sub-urban areas adjoining these big cities while remaining connected to modern healthcare, educational, research, entertainment facilities and opportunities of trade and employment thus increasing their productivity and ensure their social and mental well being," said the panel led by Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, Lok Sabha member from Ongole in Andhra Pradesh.

The committee suggested the ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) persuade the respective state governments to prepare detailed regional and functional plans to meet the transportation needs of these cities.

"Subject to preparation of such detailed transport plan by the concerned State Government, MoHUA may consider RRTS projects based on the proposal received from the State Government, financial commitment, feasibility study and other relevant facts. A proper roadmap is required to be prepared in this direction," he said.

The projected cost of the Delhi-Meerut corridor of RRTS is ₹30,274 crore. RRTS services commenced in 2023 when a 17-km stretch was inaugurated. Another 17-km stretch from Duhai to Modinagar North in Uttar Pradesh was inaugurated in 2024.

Regarding the progress of the Delhi-Meerut Corridor, the ministry informed the panel in November 2024 that the physical and financial progress is around 80% and 75% respectively.

NCRTC informed that the Delhi-Gurugram-SNB corridor has not been sanctioned and some fine tuning of the DPR is being done. Further, the approval on the DPR and financial commitment towards the Delhi-Panipat RRTS corridor is pending from Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD).

Observing that the DPR of all the three corridors were finalized, the project has taken off only in respect of Delhi-Meerut corridor, the panel said that on the remaining two priority corridors, very little progress could be made.

The committee noted that although urban planning is a state subject, the role of central government cannot be confined only to providing financial assistance to state governments.

"Policy decision on regional planning ought to be taken at the Centre level who have an important mandate of urban transport planning and therefore impetus from the ministry for such initiative is needed. With regard to expansion of RRTS network in various cities, the Committee were informed that interventions like RRTS are suitable in cities having strong metro network providing connectivity to various places in the heart of the city," said the report.

Noting that the mandate of National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) is to undertake overall development of commuter rail, related roads, bus services to improve connectivity in NCR region only, the committee said that there is a need to leverage the capacity and expertise of NRCTC in other parts of the country for catering to the regional transportation requirement in particular and other appropriate transport solution in general.

"The committee, therefore recommend that through appropriate legislative instrument, the mandate of NCRTC be extended in regions other than NCR for creation of comprehensive integrated multi-modal suburban commuter transportation system," it said.