Construction of Delhi-Meerut high speed train corridor to start in Jan

MEERUT: The construction of an elevated corridor for the proposed Delhi-Meerut high-speed train is likely to begin from January. The National Capital Region planning board has approved the detailed project report (DPR).Once the project goes live, it will take less than an hour to commute between Delhi and Meerut.

The first phase of the project, which includes construction of a 52km-long track between Anand Vihar in Delhi and Partapur in Meerut, is expected to begin next month.

The target is to complete the entire train corridor by 2022.

Overall, a 90km-long rail track will be laid out on elevated and underground sections of the corridor – between Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi and Daurala in Meerut.

This will consist of a 60km-long elevated corridor on the divider of NH-58 that connects Delhi to Meerut and Ghaziabad, and a 30km underground track.

The NCR transport corporation, part of the planning board, will construct the corridor under the scheme of Regional Rapid Transport System at a cost of Rs 21,356 crore.

Assistant town planner of Meerut Development Authority, Vivek Bhaskar, said, “In 2011, a rapid rail plan was prepared with a project budget of `15,500 crore. It was to be completed in four years.

But after amendments, the new detailed project report (DPR) with a project cost of `21,356 crore was prepared and accepted.”

While it has been decided to maintain the average speed at 80km/hour, the train can also travel at speeds of 150-160km/hour. NGT NOD TO YAMUNA BRIDGE The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has given its consent for constructing a bridge on river Yamuna in Delhi as part of the proposed Delhi-Meerut expressway.