National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) prepared a ‘Functional Plan on Transport for National Capital Region(NCR)-2032’ which recommended eight Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridors to connect various important towns of NCR with high speed rail based commuter transit system viz:
- Delhi-Gurgaon-Rewari-Alwar
- Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut
- Delhi-Sonipat-Panipat
- Delhi-Faridabad-Ballabhgarh-Palwal
- Delhi-Bahadurgarh-Rohtak
- Delhi-Shahdara-Baraut
- Ghaziabad-Khurja
- Ghaziabad-Hapur
Out of these, the Task Force constituted by the then Planning Commission prioritized three corridors namely, Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut, Delhi-Gurugram-Rewari-Alwar and Delhi-Panipat.
- From the above, Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor has been approved and the construction work is underway.
- The Detailed Project Report (DPR) after the Feasibility Study has been received from National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) for Delhi-Gurugram-SNB Urban Complex RRTS Corridor in December, 2018 and for SNB Urban Complex to Sotanala RRTS Corridor in June, 2020; which are part of Delhi-Gurugram-Rewari-Alwar RRTS Project.
- The DPR of Delhi-Panipat corridor has been received from NCRTC in June 2020.
- Approval of Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) with financial commitment on DPRs of Delhi-Gurugram-SNB RRTS corridor and Delhi-Panipat RRTS corridor has not been received.
- The RRTS projects are cost intensive projects which require extensive inter-ministerial consultations and their approval depends on feasibility of projects and availability of resources.
- The allocation/release of funds and construction activity of project is undertaken once the project is approved.
- This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Kaushal Kishore, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on 13 December.
About RRTS:
- RRTS is a new, dedicated, high speed, high capacity, comfortable commuter service connecting regional nodes in NCR.
- RRTS is different from conventional Railway as it will provide reliable, high frequency, point to point regional travel at high speed along dedicated path way.
- RRTS is different from metro as it caters to passengers looking to travel a relatively longer distance with fewer stops and at higher speed.
Source: PIB-Press Release | Image Credit (representational): NCRTC
