Beginning the tunneling work for the construction of India’s first Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor between Delhi and Meerut, a nearly 90 meter long Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) has carried a tunnel from Anand Vihar towards New Ashok Nagar in Delhi. Construction has started.
With a diameter of 6.6 meters, the RRTS tunnels are larger as compared to other metro systems in the country due to the large rolling stock along with the high design speed of RRTS trains of 180 kmph. According to the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), this will help in reducing the air pressure and passenger inconvenience due to high speed of trains.
The length of the tunnel between Anand Vihar and New Ashok Nagar will be around 3 km.
Four TBMs are to be launched from Anand Vihar station – two for drive from Anand Vihar towards New Ashok Nagar and two from Anand Vihar towards Sahibabad, while TBMs from Anand Vihar to Sahibabad will form a tunnel of about 2 km. ,
The underground sections of RRTS will have twin separate tunnels for the movement of trains. There are provisions for emergency escape for the safety of the passengers in case of any emergency. It will also have a cross-passage approximately every 250 meters.
The design life of the tunnels is planned and expected to be 100 years. The RRTS corridor is being built to reduce vehicular traffic and air pollution and ensure balanced development in the region.
The construction work is in full swing on the entire 82 km long Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor. The corridor will have 25 stations including two depots and a stabling yard.
The priority section between Sahibabad to Duhai is scheduled to be commissioned by March 2023 and the trial run on the corridor is expected to start this year. The entire corridor will be opened to the public by 2025.
There are over 14,000 employees and 1,100 engineers working on the project. To date, 18 km of the bridge of priority section with around 1,400 ghats has been constructed. The foundation work for 80 percent of the corridor has been completed.
The tunnel will have a provision for ventilation shafts to infuse the air and a side walkway 60 cm-90 cm wide to support maintenance activities and act as an additional emergency escape.
The 17-km priority section between Sahibabad to Duhai is scheduled to be commissioned by March 2023 and the trial run is expected to start this year. The entire corridor will be opened to the public by 2025.
Decongestion of the national capital, reducing vehicular traffic and air pollution, and balanced regional development are some of the reasons for the implementation of the project.
NCRTC is adopting state-of-the-art technology to ensure safe and timely completion of works while minimizing inconvenience to road users, local commuters, business owners, and residents of the entire segment. One of the techniques being widely used for the project is pre-casting of various civil structures and minimizing on-site construction.