Delhi–Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System

The Delhi–Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (Delhi–Meerut RRTS) is an 82.15 km long,[2][3][4] under-construction, semi-high speed rail corridor connecting Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Meerut. It is one of the three rapid-rail corridors planned under Phase-I of Regional Rapid Transport System (RRTS) project of National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC). With maximum speed of 180 km/h (111.85 mph), the distance between Delhi and Meerut will be covered in less than 60 minutes. The project will cost ₹30,274 crore (US$4.2 billion) and will have 24 stations including two depots at Duhai and Modipuram. On 8 March 2019, the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India laid the Foundation Stone of this corridor.[5] Local transit services will also be provided on the Delhi - Meerut RRTS network in Meerut with a span of 21 km for the local transit needs.

Delhi - Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System

Overview
Owner	NCRTC
Area served	Delhi Ghaziabad Meerut
Locale	NCR
Transit type	Regional Rail
Number of lines	1
Number of stations	22
Headquarters	New Delhi
Website	ncrtc.in
Operation
Began operation	2023 (Estd.)
Operator(s)	National Capital Region Transport Corporation
Headway	5-10 minutes
Technical
System length	82 km (51 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge[1]
Electrification	25 kV, 50 Hz AC Overhead catenary
Average speed	100 km/h (62 mph)
Top speed	180 km/h (110 mph)
System map Sarai Kale Khan New Ashok Nagar Anand Vihar Delhi Uttar Pradesh border Sahibabad Ghaziabad Guldhar Duhai Muradnagar Modi Nagar South Modi Nagar North Meerut South Shatabdi Nagar Meerut Central Begumpul Meerut North Modipuram

NCRTC initiated the civil construction work on the 17-km long priority section between Sahibabad and Duhai to meet the challenging target of operationalizing it by March 2023.[6] The civil construction work was initiated within a span of 3 months of foundation stone ceremony. The entire 82 kms long Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor will be operational by 2025.

Delhi Ghaziabad Meerut RRTS

Following the Galwan Valley skirmish on 15 June 2020, there were calls by Swadeshi Jagran Manch to the government to cancel the bid of a Chinese company related to the transit system,[7][8] but this campaign was unsuccessful.[9]

Timelines

• May 2017: Government of Uttar Pradesh approved DPR of Delhi-Meerut RRTS project.[10][11]
• February 2019: Central Govt approved 30,274 Cr Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut 82.15 km RRTS project.[12]
• March 2019: Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for this project.[13]
• June 2019: Pillar Construction work started.[14]
• October 2020: Civil construction work on about 50 km between Sahibabad and Shatabdi Nagar is in progress [15]

Route

Length of the corridor: 82 km

14 RRTS stations: Sarai Kale Khan, New Ashok Nagar, Anand Vihar, Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Guldhar, Duhai, Muradnagar, Modi Nagar South, Modi Nagar North, Meerut South, Shatabdi Nagar, Begumpul and Modipuram.

2 depots: Duhai and Modipuram

9 stations constructed exclusively for local transit services in Meerut: Partapur, Rithani, Brahmpuri, Meerut Central, Bhaisali, MES Colony, Daurli, Meerut North and Modipuram Depot.

4 stations where both RRTS and local transit services in Meerut will be provided: Meerut South, Shatabdi Nagar, Begumpul and Modipuram

Of the entire length, 68.03 km (42.27 mi) is elevated, 14.12 km (8.77 mi) is underground[2] and 1.45 km (0.90 mi) will be at grade for connections to two depots that will come up at Duhai, Ghaziabad and Modipuram, Meerut. In densely populated areas of Delhi and Meerut, the route will be underground, including that of the river Yamuna.[3] The entire route is designed for a maximum speed of 180 km/h (111.85 mph) and the operating speed will be 160 km/h (99.42 mph).[16][17] Average speed (including all the stops) will come around 100 km/h (62.14 mph).[17]

The Delhi-Meerut corridor starts from Sarai Kale Khan station in Delhi. The corridor will pass through areas of Delhi, Ghaziabad and Meerut, terminating at Modipuram in Meerut.[2][3]

Hazrat Nizamuddin Sarai Kale Khan will also become a transit hub with the presence of Hazrat Nizamuddin metro station, Sarai Kale Khan ISBT and the Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station in vicinity.[3]

The 38.05 km (23.64 mi) long Sahibabad - Meerut South section, including Duhai Depot, is expected to become operational by January 2023, the 16.60 km (10.31 mi) Hazrat Nizamuddin - Sahibabad in January 2024 and the remaining 37.40 km (23.24 mi) Meerut South - Modipuram in July 2024.[3]

There will be a total of 16 stations [18] Multimodal transport hubs for integration with existing transportation such as Delhi Metro, Indian Railways, UPSRTC are planned at Anand Vihar, Sahibabad and Shaheed Sthal stations.[19]

Delhi - Ghaziabad - Meerut RRTS Stations
No.	Station Name		Integration	Station Layout	Station for RRTS/Local Transit Services in Meerut	Construction Update	Opening
	English	Hindi
1	Sarai Kale Khan - Nizamuddin	सराय काले खान - निजामुद्दीन	Pink Line   Indian Railways   ISBT	Elevated	RRTS	Pre-construction works underway	2025
2	New Ashok Nagar	न्यू अशोक नगर	Blue Line
3	Anand Vihar	आनंद विहार	Blue Line   Indian Railways   ISBT   Pink Line	Underground
4	Sahibabad	साहिबाबाद	Blue Line   Indian Railways	Elevated		Around 2350 piles, over 230 pile cap, around 110 pier,sand around 50 pier cap have been built. Over 260 segments have been casted and 4 spans have already been erected.	2023
5	Ghaziabad	ग़ाज़ियाबाद	Indian Railways
6	Guldhar	गुलधर
7	Duhai	दुहाई		Elevated
8	Duhai Depot	दुहाई		At Grade
9	Murad Nagar	मुराद नगर		Elevated		Casting testing of 17 piles for the initial Pile Load Test completed. 17 km of road widening & construction work has been completed. Total of 370 piles and 28 pile caps have been completed.	2025
10	Modi Nagar South	मोदीनगर दक्षिण		Elevated
11	Modi Nagar North	मोदीनगर उत्तर
12	Meerut South	मेरठ दक्षिण			RRTS and local transit services in Meerut
13	Partapur	परतापुर		Elevated	Local Transit services in Meerut
14	Rithani	रिठानी
15	Shatabdi Nagar	शताब्दी नगर		Elevated	RRTS and local transit services in Meerut
16	Bramhapuri	ब्रह्मापुरी		Elevated	Local Transit services in Meerut
17	Meerut Central	मेरठ केंद्रीय		Underground
18	Bhaisali	भैसाली
19	Begumpul	बेगमपुल		Underground	RRTS and local transit services in Meerut
20	MES Colony	मेस कॉलोनी		Elevated	Local Transit services in Meerut
21	Daurli	दौरली
22	Meerut North	मेरठ उत्तर
23	Modipuram	मोदीपुरम		Elevated	RRTS and local transit services in Meerut
24	Modipuram Depot	मोदीपुरम डेपोट		At Grade	Depot Station and local transit services in Meerut

Key features

• The Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor is India’s first RRTS corridor to be implemented in India.
• Multi-Modal Integration: RRTS stations would be integrated with various modes of transport like Airport, Indian Railway Stations, Inter-State Bus Terminus, Delhi Metro Stations etc. It will facilitate seamless movement of commuters from one mode to another. Seamless integration between different modes of transport encourages people to use public transport.[20]
• Platform Screen Doors; All the RRTS stations will have platform screen doors for enhanced commuter safety.[21]
• Implementation of Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS Corridor is expected to shift the modal share in favour of public transport from 37% to 63% in the region, which ultimately helps in curbing pollution.[22]
• As per estimates, this corridor will significantly reduce pollutants namely PM 2.5 particle by 60,000 tonnes, Nitrogen oxide by 475,000 tonnes, Hydrocarbons by 800, 00 tonnes and carbon monoxide by 800,00 tonnes yearly

Source of funding

• Multilateral Funding- about $1 bn from ADB, $500 mn from NDB & $500mn from AIIB [23][24]
• Contribution from Government of India : 20%; from Delhi Govt: 3.22%; from UP Govt: 16.78% [25]

Signalling and train control system

National Capital Region Transport Corporation has decided to equip the line with European Train Control System (ETCS) Level 2 signalling solution. Tenders for its procurement were invited on April 17, 2020.[26]

Rolling stock

On May 1, 2020 Bombardier Transportation emerged as the lowest bidder among a group of 3 bidders to supply and maintain 210 coaches. The coaches will be built under Make in India scheme of government in Bombardier's plant in Gujarat.[27] The RRTS rolling stock will be first of its kind in India with a design speed of 180 kmph. Entire rolling stock for Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor will be manufactured in India, marking 100% local manufacturing.[28] NCRTC recently unveiled the first look of the RRTS trains.[29]

See also

• Delhi–Alwar Regional Rapid Transit System
• Delhi–Panipat Regional Rapid Transit System

References

1. Feasibility Report: RRTS Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut (PDF) (Report). Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 November 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
2. "NCRTC | Delhi – Meerut Corridor". ncrtc.in. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
3. Staff Reporter. "Delhi-Meerut rapid rail project gets green light". NDTV. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
4. "Delhi - Meerut RRTS - Information, Route Maps, Fares, Tenders & Updates". The Metro Rail Guy. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
5. Shah, Narendra (8 March 2019). "Prime Minister has laid the foundation stone of country's first RRTS". Metro Rail News. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
6. "Delhi-Meerut RRTS: Good news! 17-km long Sahibabad-Duhai stretch to be operational by March 2023; details". The Financial Express. 31 July 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
7. Arnimesh, Shanker (15 June 2020). "RSS affiliate wants Modi govt to cancel Chinese firm's bid for Delhi-Meerut RRTS project". ThePrint. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
8. Shrivastava, Rahul (16 June 2020). "Chinese firm bids lowest for Delhi-Meerut project, RSS affiliate asks Modi govt to scrap company's bid". India Today. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
9. "Delhi-Meerut RRTS Project: Chinese firm to build stretch of India's first Regional Rapid Rail Transit corridor". The Financial Express. 4 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
10. "NCRTC | Uttar Pradesh Government Approves Delhi-Meerut RRTS". ncrtc.in. Archived from the original on 12 June 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
11. Agarwal, Kabir (6 May 2017). "Delhi-Meerut rapid rail priority for govt: CM Yogi". The Times of India. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
12. https://www.businesstoday.in/sectors/infra/govt-approves-rs-30274-cr-delhi-ghaziabad-meerut-regional-rapid-transport-system/story/320397.html
13. "PM Narendra Modi laid down the foundation stone for the project". Retrieved 8 March 2019.
14. "दिल्ली से मेरठ तक का सफर 60 मिनट में, रोजाना हजारों यात्रियों को होगा फायदा". Dainik Jagran (in Hindi). Retrieved 4 June 2019.
15. Jha, Abhijay (8 July 2020). "Work on Delhi-Meerut RRTS corridor gathers pace". The Times of India. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
16. "NCRTC approves Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor". India Today. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
17. "RRTS – Background". ncrtc.in. Archived from the original on 5 June 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
18. "NCRTC|Delhi-Meerut Corridor". ncrtc.in. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
19. "Delhi-Meerut RRTS: Hubs with connectivity to Delhi Metro, Indian Railways proposed on Delhi-Ghaziabad route". Financial Express. 19 March 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
20. Singh, Neha (14 March 2020). "NCRTC to integrate Delhi-Meerut RRTS corridor with other modes of transport". Metro Rail News. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
21. "All RRTS stations to have platform screen doors". The Times of India. 11 August 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
22. Dash, Dipak K. (22 January 2019). "Delhi Meerut Rapid Rail News: RRTS may take 1 lakh vehicles off roads". The Times of India. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
23. "New Development Bank approves $500 million loan for RRTS rail project". Hindustan Times. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
24. Saluja, Nishtha. "ADB approves $1 billion loan for construction of Delhi-Meerut RRTS". The Economic Times. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
25. "Delhi-Meerut high-speed corridor gets Rs 100 crore fillip". The Times of India. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
26. "NCRTC Invites Bids for Delhi - Meerut RRTS' ETCS Signalling System". The Metro Rail Guy. 28 April 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
27. "Bombardier Lowest Bidder for Delhi-Meerut RRTS' 210 Coach Contract". The Metro Rail Guy. 2 May 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
28. Saluja, Nishtha. "Bombardier to make entire rolling stock for Delhi-Meerut RRTS in India, says NCRTC Head". The Economic Times. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
29. "India's first RRTS train with design speed of 180 kmph unveiled; to have business class". The Times of India. 25 September 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.