Delhi's RRTS update

Commuters travelling to NCR towns can expect a smooth and air-conditioned ride in the near future, with the Delhi government finally giving the go-ahead to the regional rapid transit system (RRTS) project connecting Delhi with Meerut, Alwar and Panipat. The earlier government under Sheila Dikshit had objected to the entry of RRTS inside city limits, citing congestion issues. On Wednesday, lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung gave the approval for the three corridors as envisaged by the National Capital Regional Planning Board. The alignment for the Delhi-Panipat (111 km), Delhi-Alwar (180 km) and Delhi-Meerut (90 km) RRTS has already been finalized.
The approval, which comes with a rider that the Delhi-Alwar corridor will terminate in Gurgaon, and not be integrated with the Airport line as suggested by Delhi Metro, is expected to give a boost to the concept of NCR. According to a survey conducted in 2007, over a crore vehicles travel through Delhi every day to reach these cities.
Delhi will have nine stations on these three corridors and part of the alignment will be underground.
An official from the lieutenant governor's office said, “The Delhi-Meerut corridor, going through Anand Vihar to Sarai Kale Khan, would be implemented as per NCRPB's proposal, supported by DMRC. NCRPB's proposal on the Delhi-Panipat corridor, with alignment up to Kashmere Gate, would be implemented. The proposal of Delhi-Alwar corridor with changes in the alignment as suggested by DMRC are not agreed to as the services of Metro are available from Delhi to Gurgaon. For the time being, this corridor may be terminated at Gurgaon.“
The RRTS project was conceived to connect Delhi with NCR cities through high-speed trains, which would run at 60 kmph. As part of the project, the four states involved -Delhi, Haryana, UP and Rajasthan -have agreed on the equity amount to be be contributed by each. Even the setting up of the Rs 100-crore corpus for NCRTC, a special purpose vehicle that would manage the project, has been given the go-ahead. Work on the three corridors, Delhi-Gurgaon-Alwar, Delhi-Sonepat-Panipat and Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut, was expected to start last year.
“With the high-speed corridors in place, the total cost benefit will be huge in terms of fuel, highway , pollution, capital and time saved.
Delhi will benefit greatly , based on these factors,“ said the government official. The high-speed links are also expected to check migration into the capital.