Delhi-Meerut RRTS trial run on priority section to begin next month, says official

Delhi-Meerut RRTS: Work of Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), an 82-km corridor connecting Delhi, Ghaziabad and Meerut will be completed before the deadline, said National Capital Region Transport Corporation Managing Director Vinay Kumar Singh.

"Work of Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), an 82-km corridor connecting Delhi, Ghaziabad & Meerut underway construction is challenging but we'll finish our project before the deadlines given to us. Trial runs to begin soon," Vinay Kumar Singh said.

Trial runs on the main line for the operationalisation of the 17-km Duhai-Sahibabad priority section of the ambitious Delhi-Meerut RRTS corridor will begin early December, a senior official said on Friday.

The priority section is expected to get operationalised by March next year, Managing Director of the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), Vinay Kumar Singh, said.

Trial runs have been started in the depot already and the trains are "behaving perfectly" as was planned and designed, he said.

The NCRTC is implementing India's first Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) between Delhi and Meerut.

During a media interaction held at the site of the under-construction station of Anand Vihar on the 82-km Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS, he said after the Duhai-Sahibabad priority section, "the next section that we will open, will be the Duhai-Meerut South section and plan is to operationalise it by December next year".

The entire Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS, which will have 25 stations, is targeted to be operational by 2025, the NCRTC had earlier said.

Asked when will the trial runs begin for the priority section and by when it is expected to be operationalised, Singh said, "Trial runs have already started.

Presently, we are doing trials in the depot. Two trains we already have, and the next train will be coming next week in the depot".

"Various kinds of trials are undertaken and involves traction system, rolling stock and signalling system, which are new here.

First we integrate the coaches, then we test brake system.

"These trains have automatic train protection (ATP) and that testing we have done... these trains are behaving perfectly as was planned and designed," he said.

The top official of the NCRTC said, on the main line, trials will begin in the first week of December, and by February-March next year, the priority section is expected to be operationalised.

The priority section has five stations, Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Guldhar, Duhai and Duhai Depot, another senior official said.

On a query on high-speed trials, he said, "We have to do it in a combined manner, with multiple agencies and we have sought dates from them".

The trains will use Automatic Train Operation (ATO) technology and even in case of heavy fog or smog, they will be able to operate, officials said.

Asked about the fare structure, Singh said, "A decision on it will be taken soon, work is in very advanced stage... Our fare will be competitive compared to similar modes of transport".

On the subsequent section of the NCRTC that it plans to operationalise after the priority section, he told reporters that Duhai-Meerut South section is quite long and includes Murad Nagar, Modi Nagar South, and Modi Nagar North.

"Meerut South will take people to outer area of Meerut and our plan is to operationalise it by December next year," he said.

Some other states like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Telangana too desire to have similar RRTS corridors, officials said, adding that Uttar Pradesh wants it between Lucknow and Kanpur.

Sarai Kale Khan is one of the major stations on the 82-km-long Delhi-Meerut RRTS corridor.

The RRTS corridor would cut down the travel time between Delhi and Meerut to around 55 minutes from the current three-four hours by road.

With multi-modal integration at its core, the Sarai Kalen Khan RRTS station is strategically planned and located in close vicinity of the station on Delhi Metro, Railways’ Hazrat Nizamuddin station and Vir Haqiqat Rai Inter State Bus Terminal (ISBT).

This station will also be the converging point of all three RRTS corridors of the first phase -- Delhi-Panipat and Delhi-SNB-Alwar and Delhi-Meerut.

Interoperability will facilitate commuters to travel from one corridor to another without any hassle.

Similarly, the Anand Vihar RRTS station, which will be underground, will be close to the Anand Vihar stations on Delhi Metro (Blue Line and Pink Line), Indian Railways’ Anand Vihar Terminal station and Anand Vihar Inter State Bus Terminal (ISBT).

On a query on the status of Delhi-SNB-Alwar RRTS corridor, the NCRTC MD said, all three states have cleared the detailed project report (DPR) and it is being currently reviewed by the Centre.

On Delhi-Panipat RRTS corridor status, he said, Haryana has approved the DPR, and it is awaited from the Delhi.

Each train that will run on the RRTS corridor will primarily consist of six coaches, comprising five standard coaches and one premium class coach.

One coach in each train will be reserved for women, another senior official of NCRTC said, adding, the capacity though is to have nine coaches.

A standard-class coach will have three doors on one side and the premium-class coach will have two doors. Based on this, a total of 17 platform screen doors (PSDs) will be installed on each platform of RRTS stations.

A special lounge area will be there on the platform for commuters who wish to travel in premium-class coaches, officials said.

The NCRTC MD said this project is "not just a transport project" and the aim is much larger, to facilitate movement of people so as to contribute to decentralisation of economic activities, reduce pollution and contribute to decongestion on streets, all while ensuring commuter-centric facilities.

He also said that escalators, travelators, and connecting of different traffic nodes through foot-over-bridges will help segregate pedestrian commuters and those opting for vehicular mode of transport.

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