Foot bridge to link RRTS Ghaziabad section with Red Line station in 3 months

The NCRTC is constructing the 82km long RRTS project linking the three cities of Delhi, Ghaziabad and Meerut

The first multimodal integration of the 17km priority section of the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project with the Delhi Metro line is likely to happen in the next three months, officials of National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) said, adding that the RRTS Ghaziabad station and the Metro’s Red Line station at New Bus Adda will be connected by a foot-over-bridge in the next three months.

According to officials, since its opening, the priority section has received a daily ridership of about 8,000-10,000. (HT Photo)

The NCRTC is constructing the 82km long RRTS project linking the three cities of Delhi, Ghaziabad and Meerut. The 17km priority section was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 20 and rebranded the RapidX trains as Namo Bharat trains. The 17km section is now open to public with five stations at Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Guldhar, Duhai and Duhai Depot, said NCRTC.

According to officials, since its opening, the priority section has received a daily ridership of about 8,000-10,000. Two stations, Sahibabad and Ghaziabad, will see multimodal integration with other transport systems such as the Metro, and UP Roadways buses, among others.

“The linking of the RRTS Ghaziabad station with the Red LIne Metro station is likely to happen in the next three months. With this, the passengers can easily move between the two stations. At Sahibabad, the station has been designed for integration with Metro. As and when the Metro arrives there, we will take steps to integrate the two modes,” said Puneet Vats, chief public relations officers, NCRTC.

The RRTS Sahibabad station already has an integration with Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation bus station nearby. The Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) has also planned to connect Noida’s Sector 62 to Sahibabad by metro. However, the plans have remained only on book and are yet to materialise.

“The linking of Sector 62 in Noida to Sahibabad is under proposal and plans will take some time to materialise,” said Rajesh Kumar Singh, secretary, GDA.

The NCRTC will popularise the newly opened RRTS line among the public and encourage more persons to use it. They have already brought in several electric, AC feeder buses from ISBT Anand Vihar to Sahibabad. The agency has also brought in electric feeder autos to ferry passengers from the four stations of Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Guldhar and Duhai at a minimum fare of ₹10, said NCRTC officials.

“The feeder buses are operating every 30 minutes from Anand Vihar to Sahibabad. The Duhai station has become the second most popular station after Sahibabad. There, many students met our senior officials and urged them to provide feeder buses from Muradnagar to Duhai. So, in the coming days, there is a possibility that feeder buses may ply between the two points,” Vats said.

The areas of Duhai, Muradnagar have many private engineering colleges and higher education institutions.

NCRTC officials said last mile connectivity may remain in place till the 17km priority section is further extended by another 25 kilometres towards Meerut, with stations at Muradnagar, Modinagar (North), Modinagar (South) in Ghaziabad and Meerut (South) in Meerut.

The NCRTC officials have already said the 25km section may get completed by the first quarter of 2024 and will boost ridership, besides providing commuting ease to passengers.