The Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Namo Bharat has crossed 3 crore passenger journeys within months of the commissioning of the entire corridor, marking a major milestone for new-age regional transit in the National Capital Region (NCR).
“Over the past two years, it has steadily built commuter trust, now clearly reflected in the steady rise in ridership and more and more people are choosing it as a fast, safe, and comfortable way to travel,” a spokesperson of the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) said on Tuesday.
On 22 February 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the entire Delhi-Ghaziabad- Meerut Namo Bharat corridor, along with Meerut Metro, to the nation. Since then, ridership has been rising steadily. Apart from Sundays, which see around 85,000 passengers, daily footfall on weekdays ranges between 90,000 and 1,14,000.
Operations on the corridor first began on 21 October 2023 with the inauguration of a 17-km Priority Section between Sahibabad and Duhai Depot. In November 2023, after the first full month of operations, the section recorded a ridership of over 72,000.
As the services were extended to Modinagar North in March 2024 and further to Meerut South in August 2024, the operational section expanded to 42 km with nine stations.
With each extension, ridership kept steadily rising. By December 2024, average monthly ridership numbers had reached about 7 lakh, nearly ten times higher than the same period a year earlier.
A major boost came in January 2025, when an additional 13-km Delhi section from New Ashok Nagar to Sahibabad became operational. With the commissioning of this section stations like Anand Vihar, developed as a key multi-modal hub, made access easier for a much larger set of commuters. This helped bring in passengers not just from nearby areas but from across Delhi and adjoining regions.
On 16 May 2025, a major milestone was achieved when the ridership hit the record of 1 crore. By July 2025, average monthly ridership had reached close to 15 lakh, more than double compared to just six months earlier. Around the same time, daily ridership stabilised at about 55,000–60,000.
To handle the growing demand, train frequency was increased from every 15 minutes to 10 minutes, with the system designed to go up to every 3 minutes when required. In December 2025, Namo Bharat crossed the milestone of 2 crore commuter trips.
On 22 February, the remaining 26 km section of the corridor, along with Meerut Metro, was commissioned, marking the operations of the entire corridor and the ridership picked up even faster. Within a month, Namo Bharat emerged as a preferred mode of regional travel and in March 2026 alone, monthly ridership reached around 27 lakh.
What stands out is the pace of growth, Namo Bharat crossed the milestone of 3 crore commuter trips in less than five months of reaching 2 crore journeys.
“One of the key reasons behind this shift is the significant saving in travel time where Namo Bharat has reduced the commute time to one-third. What used to take nearly three hours by road between Delhi and Meerut can now be covered in about one hour. This time advantage, along with predictable journey durations, has made Namo Bharat a practical choice for daily commuters as well as those travelling for work, education, healthcare, leisure and other needs,” the spokesperson added.