MoHUA Secretary DS Mishra inspected Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS Corridor

New Delhi (India): Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and Chairman, National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) today inspected ongoing construction work on the entire 82 km long Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor along with Vinay Kumar Singh, Managing Director, NCRTC. Other senior officials from NCRTC. Commissioner Meerut also accompanied him during the visit.
 
The inspection started from Sarai Kale Khan RRTS station, which is being developed as a mega transport hub seamlessly integrated with nearby Railway Station, Metro Station, Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) and ring road. Mishra keenly observed the traffic integration scheme and commuter movement at this RRTS station where all the three interoperable RRTS corridors of phases 1 will converge. Moving further along the site, he overviewed the construction of 1.35 km long first RRTS bridge over river Yamuna; alignment at New Ashok Nagar RRTS station site and Anand Vihar RRTS station site. MD NCRTC apprised him about how Anand Vihar station is being designed, keeping ‘Commuter’s First’ approach as efficient multimodal integration of Railways, Delhi Metro, ISBT, UPSRTC and RRTS is taking place here. The Secretary acknowledged that to encourage people to opt for public transport, it is essential that project organisations in urban transport sector put focus on commuters’ convenience over engineering comfort as being done in RRTS project.
 
He observed the construction progress of the priority section of 17 km where substantial portion of the sub and super structure has been completed. Around 8 km of RRTS viaduct has already been constructed and track laying activities have started. He inspected Ghaziabad RRTS station, highest station of the corridor, seamlessly integrated with nearby Metro station and Bus depot. He interacted with engineers to understand the challenges being faced by them and how they are using cutting-edge technology to overcome them.  Use of Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS), a global navigation satellite system (GPS) based technology, was demonstrated to him. This technique is being used in surveying/accurate construction of structures and track.
 
While moving towards Duhai depot, the Secretary was apprised that, so far more than 800 piers have been erected, 16 launching gantries are currently deployed, about 10,000 labour with more than 1000 engineers are working day and night to meet the deadline. He appreciated the such a huge mobilisation of resources and machinery, which is not common for any rail based urban infrastructure project. At Duhai depot, he inspected the rapidly progressing ongoing construction works, rail laying process and OHE (Over Head Equipment) work. He along with MD/NCRTC and Commissioner, Meerut also did plantation at the site.
 
He inspected the pre-cast track slabs manufacturing factory in Meerut. The ballastless pre casted track slab technology used in the RRTS corridor is suitable for high speed railway and will be immensely beneficial for upcoming rail projects in India.
 
After detailed review, Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) & Chairman, NCRTC stated, "RRTS is a next-generation mobility solution that will revolutionize the public transportation in India. I am glad to note that the construction is going at a rapid pace on the corridor while maintaining the high quality & safety standards. Fast, comfortable, reliable transit and seamless integration with other modes will surely attract people to choose RRTS over private vehicles. Implementation of the RRTS corridor will significantly reduce congestion and pollution in the NCR. While interacting with various officials of NCRTC and local authorities, he highlypraised the committed working of NCRTC OFFICIALS AND ENCOURAGED THEM to achieve the goal of implementing India’s first Regional Rapid Transit System and Meerut metro project efficiently in a time-bound manner which will fulfil the aspirations of the millions of people of NCR, especially the residents of Ghaziabad, Muradnagar, Modinagar, Meerut who are eagerly waiting for this next-generation public transport project.”

Apart from reviewing other construction sites in Modi Nagar and Meerut, he also inspected the three state-of-the-art casting yards at Vasundhara and Shatabdi Nagar, where he keenly observed the processes at quality control labs and other activities like batching plant, wheel washing etc. The inspection concluded at Bhainsali RRTS station construction site in Meerut.

Vinay Kumar Singh, MD, NCRTC acknowledged the support provided to the project by Mohua, State government of UP and particularly commissioner Meerut and district authorities of Meerut and ghaziabad. He appreciated measures being under taken by NCRTC to ensure minimum inconvenience to local residents during construction such as Road widening, deputing marshals for traffic management, extensive use of smog machines, water sprinklers, tyre washers for dust mitigation, construction activities being carried inside barricaded zones only etc.