By- Srishti Verma
The RRTS is developed by the National Capital Region Transport Corporation, a joint venture of the Government of India and governments of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
In 2019, the construction of Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor had begun. The first look of the RRTS train was unveiled a year later.
RRTS is different from the Metro rail. It has an operational speed of 160 kilometres per hour against the Metro's speed of 80 kph. While a Metro train will take three hours to complete a 100 kilometres journey, an RRTS will traverse that distance in just an hour.
Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Corridor is the first RRTS project being implemented in India, and will be closely followed by the Delhi-Gurugram-SNB-Alwar and Delhi-Panipat corridors
The total length of the Delhi-Meerut corridor is 82 kilometres which will be covered in just an hour. It comprises 24 stations. The first phase covering 17 kilometres will cover five stations- Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Guldhar, Duhai and the Duhai Depot
NCRTC said it has worked with the Centre, four state governments and transport systems to develop deep multi-modal integration at RRTS stations. These RRTS stations will be integrated with various metro lines, airports and bus stands, wherever possible.
The project has been constructed at a cost of ₹30,274 crore. The Asian Development Bank, New Development Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank have also funded this project
RRTS trains feature several commuter-centric facilities such as overhead luggage racks, Wi-Fi, mobile and laptop charging facility at every seat. Each train will have one premium class car with wider seats, more legroom, and coat hangers
"It is noteworthy that the participation of women employees in the operations of this section will be more than that of male employees....” NCRTC was quoted.