Berlin: The National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) is showcasing India's first Regional Rapid Transit System, Namo Bharat, and its transformation of mobility in the National Capital Region at InnoTrans 2026, the international trade fair for transport technology being held in Berlin from September 22 to 25.
According to the official release, D Thara, Secretary, Department of Capital Development, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), and Chairperson, NCRTC, inaugurated the NCRTC stall at the event in the presence of Shalabh Goel, Managing Director, NCRTC.
At InnoTrans, NCRTC is presenting the 82-km Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Namo Bharat corridor, connecting Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi with Modipuram in Meerut.
With the entire corridor becoming operational in February, Namo Bharat marks a significant milestone in India’s regional mobility journey and demonstrates the potential of regional rails to connect cities, expand access to economic opportunities and support sustainable development across a metropolitan region.
Thara also participated in a preliminary programme christened Rail Leaders’ Summit 2026. Speaking during the session, she said, “We have a system which extends beyond the city, but connects people to the city: the regional rails. There are such regional rails in Tokyo, in Paris, everywhere. As we can’t have all the population getting loaded onto the livelihoods in the cities and they cannot stay there; it is unaffordable. So, we distribute this population through railways, making affordable living a little away with a semi-high-speed kind of train. That is where the Rapid Rail Transit System, which is called Namo Bharat, comes in.”
She further added, “We built our first semi-high-speed line and started operating it full length in February. As I'm talking, we are transporting 0.1 to 0.2 million passengers every day in an 82 km stretch which connects almost 5 to 6 major cities to the capital. It will help decongest our capital, Delhi. And we are planning many more corridors so that the rail system acts as an affordable, ease-of-living providing system, not just a transport system.”
Shalabh Goel, Managing Director, NCRTC, said, “Namo Bharat represents India’s ability to develop and deliver advanced regional mobility solutions that are designed for the needs of its growing cities and regions. We’ve deployed numerous new-age technologies in its implementation and operations, like ETCS Hybrid Level 3 signalling over LTE, for the first time in the world. We believe the Namo Bharat model has the potential to support more sustainable development across major metropolitan regions in India, and InnoTrans provides us with an opportunity to share this experience and its possibilities with the global transport community.”
India’s first regional rail, Namo Bharat, was envisioned to address critical urban mobility challenges such as congestion and pollution while contributing to sustainable development over the long term.
With improved regional connectivity across the region, it aims to provide wider access to employment and economic centres, supporting economic opportunities and encouraging more polycentric development.
The impact of this project is already being witnessed across the corridor, with enhanced mobility strengthening connections between Delhi, Ghaziabad, Meerut and the surrounding areas. The corridor also integrates Meerut Metro, which operates on the same infrastructure, bringing regional and local transit services together within a single connected system.
The Namo Bharat corridor has demonstrated strong passenger adoption since the commencement of operations. It has completed the milestone of more than 4.5 crore passenger journeys and recently recorded its highest-ever daily ridership of more than 1.68 lakh commuters.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has highlighted Namo Bharat as an example of governance focused on timely delivery and quality public service. NCRTC’s work in multimodal integration, commuter-centric mobility and technological innovation has also been lauded at multiple international platforms.
NCRTC is a joint venture of the Government of India and the Governments of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, under the administrative control of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. It is the implementing agency for the Namo Bharat project in the National Capital Region.
Held every two years in Berlin, InnoTrans brings together the global transport technology industry across Railway Technology, Railway Infrastructure, Public Transport, Interiors and Tunnel Construction. The 2026 edition features emerging areas including artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomous public transport and digital solutions.
This report was published from a wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.
