The National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) has nearly completed the civil construction work on the 82-km-long Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project.
They expect the work to be concluded in the coming days, with only 2 per cent remaining for the Anand Vihar to Vaishali section in Ghaziabad.
The RRTS project, which will connect Delhi, Ghaziabad and Meerut, spans a total of 82 km.
The majority of the corridor, 70 km, will be elevated, with a 12 km underground section near Anand Vihar in Delhi (including 5.5 km from New Ashok Nagar to Sahibabad in Ghaziabad, with a station at Anand Vihar) and 6 km in Meerut, featuring stations at Bhainsali, Meerut (central), and Begum Pul.
Puneet Vats, the chief PRO of NCRTC, said that the underground civil construction and tunnelling work for the RRTS project is expected to be completed within a week.
The remaining work is focused on the Anand Vihar to Vaishali section. The progress of the tunnelling currently stands at approximately 98 per cent.
Once the tunnelling is finished, the next steps will involve track laying, signal installation, and overhead equipment setup.
The underground tunnels constructed for the RRTS project have a width of 6.5 metres, surpassing the standard width of 5.8 metres seen in typical metro systems.
NCRTC officials have explained that these wider tunnels were designed to accommodate the larger RapidX trains and their design speed of 180kmph.
Officials have incorporated cross-passages every 250 metres within the tunnels to make maintenance and passenger evacuation easier during emergencies.
The NCRTC has completed the first section of the RRTS in Ghaziabad, which spans 17 km from Sahibabad to Duhai Depot. This section includes five stations and is awaiting inauguration.
After the priority section is opened for passengers, operations will move from Duhai to Meerut in the next phase, followed by Delhi. The final implementation will involve the metro module in Meerut.
According to Vats, track laying on the elevated corridor is progressing rapidly. Around 50 per cent of track laying is complete from Duhai to Meerut (south), and most of the viaduct is also finished. Only approximately 15 km remains to be completed across different locations in Delhi and Meerut.
The RRTS project is scheduled to begin operations in March 2025 and is estimated to cost Rs 30,274 crore. It will cover a distance of 82 km and include a total of 25 stations. Out of these stations, three will be located in Delhi, eight in Ghaziabad, and the remaining in Meerut.