Milestone hubs to end commuters’ woes

Commuting to be made hassle-free as the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) in Delhi is set to roll out a project in which Delhi’s Sarai Kale Khan, Anand Vihar and New Ashok Nagar will be developed as major transit interchanges to provide passengers an easy access to all types of transports.

Planning to bring different mode of transports at one point through the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), these stations will connect the Inter State Bus Terminus (ISBT), Hazrat Nizamuddin Station, Delhi Metro and Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), Aerocity, Uttar Pradesh State Transport Corporation (UPSTC) through skywalks, escalators, underpasses and pathways. Interestingly, Anand Vihar Rapid Railway station will be totally underground as the existing Delhi Metro station is an elevated station due to which it attracts a heavy traffic in the vicinity and near the ISBT.

“A heavy traffic is always observed in the Inter State Bus Terminus (SBT) Anand Vihar area as lakhs of people travel through it every day.

Moreover, if a passenger wants to take a bus from the depot, s/he has to first get down from the metro and then walk for 10 minutes to reach the bus terminal but now under this ‘Multi-Model Integration’ the station will provide multiple opportunity to the commuters saving both energy and time as multiple interchange option will be there,” said a senior NCRTC official.

Anand Vihar Rapid Rail station will connect Delhi metro’s Blue Line and seven stations on Pink Line which is under construction, the Anand Vihar ISBT and the intra-city railway station, Nizamuddin Railway Station, UPSRTC and subway facility for the pedestrians.

Moreover, cutting the travel time between Noida- Ghaziabad, New Ashok Nagar station will provide a short direct route to Noida-Dwarka  and Vaishali Ghaziabad.

Currently, Yamuna Bank station is the interchange to Noida and Vaishali but this New Ashok Nagar will provide a direct access to the destination. Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor will be the first RRTS to be implemented in India.

This corridor will start from Sarai Kale Khan integrated terminus station in Delhi and will end at Meerut in Uttar Pradesh.

It crosses Yamuna River, Hindon River, Indian Railway tracks, Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) and will pass through dense areas in Delhi, Ghaziabad and Meerut regions. After Ghaziabad it is mostly on the median of Ghaziabad-Meerut Highway (erstwhile NH-58).

“Pre-construction activities for Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor are already in progress such as road widening, geo-technical investigation, detailed designed consultancies have been started.

“The detailed project report has been approved by the UP Government and has been sent to the Parliament Cabinet assembly for Union Ministry's final approval to begin the work and approval is expected shortly,” said the official.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has recommended eight corridors of RRTS under the 'Functional Plan on Transport for NCR-2032'.

However, the Planning Commission Task Force - prioritised 3 corridors for implementation in 1st phase: Delhi-Alwar, Delhi-Meerut and Delhi-Panipat-Sonipat. 

The budget for the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut project is Rs 3,1902 crore with a deadline to be completed by 2024. Further, the Rapid Rail will be equipped with high speed and capacity, air conditioned and its station will be fitted with free Wi-Fi and high speed networking.