Tunnelling work on RRTS corridor begins; to link underground stretch between Delhi and Ghaziabad
The tunneling work for the 5.5-km stretch from New Ashok Nagar in Delhi to Anand Vihar is already underway, while NCRTC has also started work to link Anand Vihar and Vaishali in Ghaziabad. Officials said that the finished tunnels on both sides will be 6.5 metres in width and will facilitate the movement of RRTS trains, which have a high design speed of 180kmph
The National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), which has taken up the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project, started tunnelling work to link the 5.5-km-long underground stretch between Delhi and Ghaziabad.
NCRTC officials said that the underground section will have one station at Anand Vihar, which will facilitate multi-modal integration among six modes of transport.
The tunnelling work for the 5.5-km stretch from New Ashok Nagar in Delhi to Anand Vihar is already underway, while NCRTC has also started work to link Anand Vihar and Vaishali in Ghaziabad. Officials said that the finished tunnels on both sides will be 6.5 metres in width and will facilitate the movement of RRTS trains, which have a high design speed of 180kmph.
“The work to link Anand Vihar and Vaishali has now been started. The entire stretch of 5.5-km will have two up and down lines for trains. The underground section will have safety features such as cross passages, side walkways for passengers and ventilation shafts. The stretch is designed in such a manner that it will have no impact on train speed,” said Puneet Vats, chief public relations officer, NCRTC.
Officials said the RRTS section was redesigned to have a better link with the Metro station at Anand Vihar. The RRTS station here is proposed at a ground level while the platform will be constructed at -1 level.
The location of the RRTS station at Anand Vihar is planned in a way to facilitate multi-modal integration among six different public transport systems already in place in the area.
These include ISBT at Anand Vihar, City bus stand, Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation ISBT at Kaushambi, Anand Vihar railway station and two metro corridors — Pink Line and Blue Line.
“Work is also in progress at the other underground section of about seven kilometres in Meerut and tunnel boring machines have been deployed at the stretch. The underground sections are being developed in a manner to accommodate RRTS trains which have coaches measuring 3.2 metres in width,” Vats added.
Barring the two underground sections of the RRTS project, the remaining 69.5-km stretch is on pillars having elevated tracks.
The entire project is pegged at ₹30,274 crore and proposes high-speed train movement which is expected to facilitate about 800,000 passengers per day.
The 82-km RRTS project also has a 17-km priority stretch from Sahibabad to Duhai in Ghaziabad and it will be the country’s first RRTS stretch, which is proposed to open for passenger operations in March 2023.
The entire 82-km long RRTS corridor is proposed for commissioning in March, 2025.
