Underground tunnelling for RRTS project to be completed in one month: NCRTC

The NCR transport corporation has completed tunnelling works in Meerut for the Regional Rapid Transit System project. The entire civil construction works for tunnelling are expected to be completed within a month. The project will connect Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Meerut, with majority of the corridor being elevated. The project is estimated to cost ?30,274 crore and is set to open in March 2025.

The NCR transport corporation (NCRTC), the agency in charge of carrying out the 82-km-long Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project, completed tunnelling works in Meerut on Tuesday, said officials familiar with the matter, adding that the entire civil construction works for tunnelling in the RRTS project are expected to be completed within a month.

Workers celebrate after completing the tunnelling in the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project’s underground section in Meerut on Tuesday. (PTI)

The 82-km-long project will connect Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Meerut. The majority of the RRTS corridor is elevated for 70km, with 12km of underground section near Anand Vihar in Delhi (5.5km from New Ashok Nagar to Sahibabad in Ghaziabad, with one station at Anand Vihar) and six kilometres in Meerut, with three stations at Bhainsali, Meerut (central) and Begum Pul.

“The underground civil construction of tunnelling work in Meerut is complete, and the remaining tunnelling work in Delhi is likely to be completed in another month,” said Puneet Vats, NCRTC’s chief PRO.

Each underground tunnel built for the RRTS project is 6.5 metres wide, more expansive than the Metro systems, typically 5.8 metres wide. NCRTC officials said wider tunnels had been designed to accommodate the larger RapidX trains and their design speed of 180kmph.

According to officials, cross-passages have been provided every 250 metres inside the tunnels for ease of maintenance and passenger evacuation in an emergency.

Apart from the tunnelling, NCRTC officials said that the viaduct for the 70km elevated corridor of the RRTS is pending at various locations over 15km.

“We have four kilometres pending in Delhi, including the Yamuna Bridge stretch. Approximately eight kilometres are pending near Modipuram in Meerut and approximately 2.5km between Modinagar and Shatabdi Nagar. The work is being accelerated,” Vats added.

The RRTS project is estimated to cost ₹30,274 crore and is set to open in March 2025. A 17km section has been completed in Ghaziabad, known as the priority section. This elevated section will be inaugurated in the coming weeks and will be the country’s first RRTS section to begin passenger service.

The 82km route has 25 stations, with three in Delhi, eight in Ghaziabad and the rest in Meerut.