3 months ago
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The Kerala authorities has requested the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to facilitate discussions with the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), which implemented the Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), for undertaking feasibility studies and processing a broad RRTS model successful Kerala.
Recalling the announcement made by Union Minister for Power and Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar during the Urban Conclave held successful Kochi connected September 12, 2025 that the Ministry is consenting to see a connection for an RRTS task successful Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the State Cabinet accorded in-principle support for the task connected January 28, 2026 for going up with the connection for implementing RRTS successful Kerala.
In a missive to Mr. Khattar, helium said the RRTS would beryllium a task of captious value to the State’s semipermanent sustainable mobility strategy. The State functions arsenic a near-urban continuum corridor, with dense colonisation dispersed on the Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod axis. This linear urbanisation, combined with 1 of the highest conveyance densities successful the country, has placed bonzer unit connected the roadworthy infrastructure. Traffic congestion and roadworthy accidents proceed to enforce important socio-economic costs, underscoring the urgent request for a high-capacity, high-speed wide transit solution.
A survey connected the Delhi-Meerut RRTS corridor proved that the system’s operational efficiency, precocious technological framework, beardown rider orientation, and seamless integration with municipality transport networks person intelligibly demonstrated that the RRTS model, erstwhile suitably adapted to Kerala’s geographical and demographic realities, tin connection a applicable and effectual mobility solution for the State, the missive said.
Kerala already has an operational metro strategy successful Kochi, with the Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode Metro successful stages of planning. The State envisages an integrated accelerated transit ecosystem, wherein an RRTS web complements and connects these 3 metro systems, links each large airports successful the State — Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kannur, and Calicut — and enables seamless, high-speed inter-city and intra-regional mobility. Such integration would importantly heighten ridership, optimise infrastructure investments, and present transformative outcomes for the State.
Stressing the beardown request for high-speed obstruction services, the missive pointed retired that the Vande Bharat Express services are operating successful the State with the highest occupancy rates successful the country, validating nationalist appetite for fast, reliable, and high-quality obstruction connectivity.
The NCRTC’s proven expertise successful planning, implementation, and cognition of RRTS projects, combined with Kerala’s way grounds successful executing analyzable infrastructure projects portion safeguarding biology and societal considerations, would marque this collaboration 1 of nationalist importance. Such an inaugural could besides service arsenic a replicable exemplary for different densely populated determination corridors crossed the country, Mr. Vijayan said.
Hence, indispensable directions beryllium issued to the acrophobic agencies to initiate discussions with the State government, the missive said, adding that the authorities has entrusted the State Transport section to further coordinate with the NCRTC and the Ministry successful this regard.
