The Chief Minister's Office of Uttarakhand announced on Wednesday, 17 June 2026 that a formal agreement has been reached among Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) to extend the high-speed Namo Bharat (RRTS) train network from Modipuram, Meerut to Lakshman Jhula, Rishikesh — a proposed corridor of 150 kilometres. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has been credited with driving the tripartite consensus, which now paves the way for a Detailed Project Report (DPR) survey to begin shortly.

Context

The Namo Bharat train service between Delhi and Modipuram was inaugurated in February 2026, marking the full operationalisation of the Delhi-Meerut RRTS corridor — India's first Regional Rapid Transit System. CM Dhami subsequently lobbied for extending the line northward into Uttarakhand, meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar to formally submit the extension proposal. Those meetings have now yielded a tripartite agreement, with the Uttarakhand government appointing Additional Secretary Reena Joshi as the state's nodal officer for the project and NCRTC designating its own nodal counterpart.

Policy Backdrop

The RRTS network is executed by NCRTC under the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, with funding shared between the central government, participating state governments, and multilateral loans. The proposed 150 km extension will split across two states: 72 km through Uttar Pradesh — passing through Muzaffarnagar — and 78 km through Uttarakhand, running via Roorkee and Har Ki Pauri, Haridwar before terminating at Lakshman Jhula. This aligns with the National Infrastructure Pipeline's emphasis on multimodal regional transit connecting economic hubs and pilgrimage circuits, and addresses chronic road congestion on NH-334 and NH-58.

Stakeholders and Impact

The corridor is expected to transform travel between Delhi and Rishikesh. At present, the road journey takes approximately five to six hours; the Namo Bharat train, operating at up to 160 km per hour, is projected to cut that to two-and-a-half to three hours. Beneficiaries will include pilgrims travelling to the Char Dham circuit, domestic and international tourists visiting Rishikesh and Haridwar, daily commuters from western Uttar Pradesh, and residents of Uttarakhand who regularly travel to Delhi for work or medical care. CM Dhami stated that the extension 'will give Uttarakhand's connectivity a new direction and provide pilgrims, tourists, and local residents with fast, safe, and modern transport.'

What's Next

The immediate step is the commencement of a field survey to prepare the DPR for the 150 km proposed track. Once the DPR is finalised, the project will require tripartite funding agreements, statutory environmental clearances, and likely a cabinet or parliamentary nod for full corridor sanction. CM Dhami affirmed that the state government 'is continuously coordinating with the central government, the Uttar Pradesh government, and NCRTC to advance this ambitious project.' If approvals proceed on schedule, the corridor could become a model for extending RRTS connectivity to Tier-2 pilgrimage and tourism cities across northern India.