Hi-speed rail to turn into metro in Meerut

NEW DELHI: Regional Rail Transit system (RRTS) is all set to make travelling between Delhi and Meerut, easier and quicker once the Delhi-Meerut high-speed rail becomes a reality.

An official of executing agency said that a high-speed rail corridor from Delhi will double up as a local metro for Meerut and will help save the government Rs 6,300 crore and improve the efficiency of the network.

Meerut is the most populated National Capital Region (NCR) town from where 740,000 people are expected to travel everyday once RRTS is built.

RRTS decided travel time to roughly 60 minutes, and help ease the heavy road traffic on the 90-km stretch in between. The National Capital Region Transport Corporation Limited (NCRTC), executing authority for the project, will build six more stations in Meerut and parallel tracks to accommodate the city’s metro trains.

“It has now been decided that in Meerut, we will construct parallel lines and metro trains will be purchased for that. While the RRTS train will not stop at these extra stations, there will be interchange facility at six other stations where the rapid train from Delhi will stop,” NCRTC spokesperson said.

According to the new design, the 92.6-km RRTS long corridor will connect the metro network of Delhi at the Sarai Kale Khan on the Pink Line with Meerut at Partapur.

Earlier the estimated cost of Meerut’s corridor 1 from Partapur to Modipuran was Rs 8,388 crore. But after its integration with the RRTS network, the expected cost of new plan comes down to Rs 2,100 crore.

According to NCRTC officials, the aim is to begin construction by July 2018.