NCR’S highspeed rail to be integrated with Delhi Metro
INTERCONNECTIVITY Nine Metro stations in Delhi will be linked to the three RRTS corridors, officials said
NEWDELHI: Commuters travelling from Meerut to the airport in Delhi will be able to cut their travel time by half in the near future, as the high-speed rail corridor between the two cities will be connected to nine stations of the Delhi Metro network.
The project report of the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), which is being implemented by National Capital Region Transport Corporation Limited (NCRTC), says that the high-speed train network will be connected with Kashmere Gate, Jor Bagh, Indraprastha, New Ashok Nagar, Anand Vihar, along with upcoming stations in Munirka, Sarai Kale Khan, Aerocity and Burari Extension of the Delhi Metro network.
This means that seven lines of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) — Red, Yellow, Blue, Violet, Magenta, Pink and the Phase-iv — will serve as an ideal example of an “integrated multimodal transport system”, officials said.
The three RRTS corridors — Delhi to Meerut; Delhi to Panipat; and Delhi to Alwar — will connect Delhi to the outskirts of the National Capital Region (NCR).
NCRTC spokesperson Sudhir Sharma said that the RRTS network will work as a “perfect model” for a multi-modal integration where it will serve as the backbone for regional transportation, while the Delhi Metro will complement it as a feeder service.
According to preliminary estimates, once all the three corridors are completed, the RRTS network will cater to over 20 lakh passengers every day.
“Teams from both the NCRTC and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) are working in close coordination to integrate the two systems,” he said.
The spokesperson said that the construction of the Delhi-meerut corridor will begin in 2018 and it is likely to cater to around 7.95 lakh passengers daily, once it is completed by the end of 2024.
The DMRC said that the integration of the three RRTS corridors with the Delhi Metro will make travelling between NCR and Delhi an easy and comfortable feat.
Commuters who travel by road from Meerut to Delhi usually take around three hours to cover the distance at present. However, once the Phase-i of the corridor (Meerut-delhi) is completed by 2024, this travel time is expected to be reduced to around 62 minutes on the high-speed rail with 26 stations in between.
“Delhi Metro’s integration with the RRTS network will surely help commuters who travel to Delhi everyday from NCR cities such as Meerut. This will also help in decongesting our highways, which connect Delhi with these nearby cities,” said Anuj Dayal, executive director (corporate communications), DMRC.
At present, such an integrated network with inter-region highspeed rail network is operational in cities such as San Francisco, Hong Kong, Paris, Seoul, London and Tokyo.