Ghaziabad to be first to complete civil construction of all eight RRTS stations

The RRTS project will use state-of-the-art RapidX trains to connect the three cities of Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Meerut. Meerut will also operate a local metro transit module as part of the project

Ghaziabad city will be the first of the three cities to complete the civil construction work for all its stations falling under the 82km long Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project, according to officials from the project executing agency, NCR Transport Corporation (NCRTC). They added that the civil construction work for the three remaining stations in Ghaziabad is expected to be finished in the next 3-4 months.

According to officials, the RRTS stabling yard at Jangpura in Delhi is proposed to have a station for passengers, benefiting commuters using the Ring Road. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The project will comprise a total of 25 stations, including three in Delhi and eight in Ghaziabad, in addition to others in Meerut. Five stations in Ghaziabad—Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Guldhar, Duhai, and Duhai Depot—are already complete and form part of the 17km priority section, which will commence passenger operations in the coming weeks.

Puneet Vats, chief public relations officer of NCRTC, said that work on the remaining three stations in Ghaziabad—Muradnagar, Modinagar (North), and Modinagar (South)—is in advanced stages, and their civil construction is likely to be completed in the next 3-4 months. “Work on stations in Delhi is also progressing rapidly, with the one at Anand Vihar also being in advanced stages,” Vats said.

According to officials, the RRTS stabling yard at Jangpura in Delhi is proposed to have a station for passengers, benefiting commuters using the Ring Road.

The RRTS project will use state-of-the-art RapidX trains to connect the three cities of Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Meerut. Meerut will also operate a local metro transit module as part of the project.

Meanwhile, the test runs for the RapidX trains began on the 17km priority section in Ghaziabad in January, and in June, the section received approval for the operation of RapidX services from the commissioner for Metro Rail Safety.

The passenger operations will begin once the section is inaugurated in the coming weeks.

Officials aware of the development said that once work on the entire section progresses further, they will commence the priority section in the first phase, while the second phase will run from Duhai in Ghaziabad to Meerut (South). This will be beneficial for commuters using the congested Delhi-Meerut Road.

“After the second phase, operations will commence in Delhi, while in the fourth phase, we will start with the Meerut metro module,” Vats added.

The RRTS project is estimated at ₹30,274 crore and is expected to have a daily ridership of about 800,000 passengers once it is fully operational. The project is scheduled to begin operations in March 2025, with the deadline for the priority section in Ghaziabad set for June 30.