A 55-minute commute between the Capital and Meerut will soon become a reality with the first high-speed train of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) scheduled to arrive this week.
“The first train will be delivered this week. Work is rapidly progressing across the corridor. At this pace, we will be able to ensure that the trial run takes place during the last quarter of 2022,” said Puneet Vats, chief public relations officer, National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC).
The NCRTC is a joint venture of the Centre and the governments of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh for developing the 82-km-long Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor, of which 70 km is elevated and 12 km is underground.
Fourteen km of the corridor is in Delhi, of which 9.22 km is elevated and 4.28 km is underground. The Sarai Kale Khan and the New Ashok Nagar stations are elevated, while Anand Vihar is the only underground station.
According to the NCRTC, the Sarai Kale Khan station, the largest on the corridor, is nearing completion with 33 out of its 39 piers being built. Consisting of six platforms with four tracks, the station will provide connectivity to the Delhi-Panipat and the Delhi-SNB-Alwar corridors that are part of the Phase I of the project. Passengers will be able to travel between stations in different corridors without changing trains.
Measuring 215 metres long, 50 metres wide and 15 metres high, the station will have 14 lifts, 18 escalators, and six entry and exit gates. One entrance each will be built near the ISBT, the Hazrat Nizamuddin metro station and the Ring Road.
According to the NCRTC, the station will also house an executive lounge for passengers travelling in premium coaches. A green public plaza with trees and plants will be built under the station box.
Multimodal connectivity
The Sarai Kale Khan station will serve as an example of Multi Modal Integration as it will be connected to the hubs of other modes of public transport such as bus stands, railway stations and metro stations.
According to the NCRTC, pier construction has been completed along 44 km of the corridor. Around 1,700 of the 2,800 piers in the elevated section have been constructed.
Stations in the 17-km priority section of the corridor include Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Guldhar, Duhai and Duhai Depot. Construction of the platforms of these stations has started and the section’s civil work is nearing completion. With the trial run on the section expected to begin by the year-end, it is expected to be opened to the public next year.
As part of the project, the NCRTC is also constructing a 1.35-km bridge over the Yamuna that will run parallel to the DND flyover. It will connect the Sarai Kale Khan and the New Ashok Nagar stations. A stabling yard is being constructed at Jungpura, where a station will be built.
