Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS Corridor project gets a big boost! Recently, a $1 billion (around Rs 7,500 crore) funding has been approved by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor. The RRTS project, which is a first of its kind project in the country, is being implemented by National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC). According to NCRTC, project financing from ADB will be implemented between August 2020 and May 2025 in multiple tranches. The loan from ADB will be used for financing civil works, station buildings, tracks, multi-modal hubs, maintenance depots, power supply, and traction of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS Corridor. The Delhi-Meerut RRTS project is expected to reduce the travel time between the two cities to just 60 minutes.
Besides, ADB-administered Japan Fund for building institutional capacity, poverty reduction, technological advancements, and two other grants amounting to an estimated amount of Rs 60 crore will be provided to finance measures for safe mobility of the children, elderly, women, and differently-abled as well as to improve economic opportunities for women and also, provision of public toilets around the stations of RRTS corridor.
According to NCRTC, the RRTS project, for the first time, will use many state-of-the-art technologies, including ETCS Level-2 signalling systems as well as ballastless tracks that are suitable for the speed of 180 km per hour. For the RRTS project, the rolling stock is being designed and manufactured under ‘Make in India’ initiative, in Savli, Gujarat.
NCRTC has stated that the RRTS network will have seamless multi-modal integration with other transport modes at Railway Stations, Metro Stations, Airports, and ISBTs. The RRTS project, with the minimum land footprint, is expected to transform the regional mobility and also help reduce air pollution by discouraging the use of private vehicles. Moreover, it is being expected that the clean and green rail-based system will set a benchmark for similar projects in the future. On Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS Corridor, the 17-km long priority section between Sahibabad and Duhai is likely to commence operations in 2023, while the entire corridor will be opened by 2025.