Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor project has received a big boost after the Asian Development Bank (ADB) decided to provide USD 500 million as loan for the construction of the high-speed 82 kilometre RRTS corridor.
Sameer Kumar Khare, additional secretary (fund bank and ADB), Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance and Kenichi Yokoyama, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission, have signed a loan agreement to this effect.
The RRTS corridor, consisting total 22 railway stations (including 6 stations of Meerut Metro Rail Project) to connect Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut through a rapid rail network, is a first of its kind project in the country. It is being implemented by National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC).
This will be the first tranche of total $1 billion facility that the ADB had agreed to fund the RRTS. Of the total project cost of USD 3.94 billion, the Centre will provide USD 1.89 billion and co-financiers are expected to provide USD 1 billion dollars.
Financing for the project will be implemented in four tranches between August 2020 and May 2025.
The project, being implemented by the NCR Transport Corporation under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, will finance the construction of railway tracks, station buildings, maintenance facilities, and traction and power supply.
“The project will provide better connectivity to allow other towns in the NCR to develop as urban economic centers surrounded by residential areas while easing the concentration pressure on Delhi,” said Khare after signing the loan agreement.
While Yokoyama said the project is expected to have a transformational impact on the development trajectory of the national capital region by introducing high-level technologies for RRTS, signaling, and station designs.
With a design speed of 180 km per hour and high-frequency operations of every five to ten minutes, the corridor connecting Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi to Modipuram at Meerut in Uttar Pradesh is expected to reduce the journey time to about one hour from the present three to four hours. The first tranche of the loan will support construction of the first of three priority rail corridors planned under the NCR Regional Plan 2021 to connect Delhi to other cities in adjoining states.
The transit system project aims to help decongest the city and improve regional connectivity by establishing transit options through the densely populated sections of the NCR connecting Delhi to Meerut in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The RRTS will have multimodal hubs to ensure smooth interchange with other transport modes. The first tranche financing will be used for constructing electrified tracks, signalling systems, multimodal hubs and stations with design features that are friendly to elderly, women, children and the disabled.
It will also support the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) in drafting action plans on TOD, VCF instruments and public-private partnership (PPP) initiatives, setting up a smart-technology based platform, and formulating a gender-friendly workplace policy.
A $3 million grant from ADB’s Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction will support various activities, including provision of visual, hearing and mobility aids, such as wheelchairs for differently abled persons. Training for women and differently abled on safe mobility and employment opportunities and behavioral change for public transport providers will also be given.