REGIONAL RAPID RAIL

RRTS: The Indian Eurostar getting into reality

Abstract

The 82.15 km long, semi-high-speed rail system known as the Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System shall link the cities of Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Meerut. It is one of three rapid rail routes proposed under Phase-I of the Regional Rapid Transport System (RRTS) project, which the National Capital Region Transport Corporation manages (NCRTC). The trip from Delhi to Meerut will take less than an hour at a top speed of 180 km/h. The project is anticipated to cost Rs. 30,274 crores and will have 24 stations, including two depots in Duhai and Modipuram. On March 8, 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the route’s foundation stone.

One of the unique aspects of the RRTS corridor is the provision of local transportation services along the route in Meerut, with 21 km set aside for such purposes. By March 2023, regular operations will start on the 17-kilometre priority stretch between Sahibabad and Duhai. By June 2025, the entire 82 km long Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS line is expected to be operational.

Following the skirmish in the Galway Valley on June 15, 2020, Swadeshi Jagran Manch called on the government to revoke the Chinese company’s bid for the transportation system. The manufacturing facility of Alstom in Savli, Gujarat, manufactures the trains.

Project Detail & Key Information

• Operational: 0 km

• Under Construction: 82.15 km

• Approved: 209 km

• Proposed: 700 km (approx.)

• Design Speed: 180 kmph

• Operational Speed: 160 kmph

• Average Speed: 100 kmph

• Track Gauge Standard Gauge: 1435 mm