NCRTC gives green signal to corridor

NEW DELHI:The long-awaited Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Rapid Rail Transit System (RRTS) corridor that enables travel at the rate of 160 km per hour achieved a major landmark today with the Board of National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) approving the 92-km project with a capital investment of Rs 21,902 crore, sources said.

Syed Ali Ahmed

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 6

The long-awaited Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Rapid Rail Transit System (RRTS) corridor that enables travel at the rate of 160 km per hour achieved a major landmark today with the Board of National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) approving the 92-km project with a capital investment of Rs 21,902 crore, sources said.

This corridor originates from Sarai Kale Khan terminus station and passes through dense development of Delhi, Ghaziabad and Meerut regions terminating at Modipuram. Of the 92.05-km-long corridor, 60.354 km is elevated viaduct, 30.245 km is underground and 1.451 km will be at grade for connections to two depots at Duhai and Modipuram. There will be a total of 17 stations, including 11 elevated and 6 underground stations, the sources said.

Delhi-Meerut RRTS is expected to carry about 7.91 lakh passengers in 2024, 9.20 lakh in 2031 and 11.40 lakh passengers in 2041. The Peak Hour Peak Day Traffic (PHPDT) is estimated to be 18,224 in 2024, 22,215 in 2031 and 26,462 in 2041.

The corridor will be designed for a maximum speed of 180 km per hour with operating speed of 160 kmph. Coaches will have airline type 2 x 2 seats with one business class coach in each train. Each train will have 12 coaches.

According to the sources, on completion of this corridor, travel time between Delhi and Meerut will come down to 48 minutes by express trains and 60 minutes by normal trains.

The sources said that 38.05-km-long Sahibabad-Meerut South section, including Duhai Depot, is planned for commencement of revenue operations in January 2023, 16.60 km Sarai Kale Khan-Sahibabad in January 2024 and the remaining 37.40 km Meerut South-Modipuram in July 2024.

The Board approved inter-operability of RRTS among the three corridors that is Delhi-Meerut, Delhi-Panipat and Delhi-Alwar to enable seamless travel to these four destinations besides reduction of costs through economies of scale in procurement of equipment and coaches etc.