Delhi-Meerut RRTS Corridor: Tunnel Construction From Anand Vihar To Sahibabad Commences

The third Sudarshan Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) starts tunneling work on the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor in the direction of Sahibabad from Anand Vihar station.

The RRTS corridor: The total length of this corridor is 82 km — 14 km is in Delhi and 68 km in UP.

• The 17 km priority section between Sahibabad and Duhai will be commissioned by March 2023.

• The corridor has four stations in Delhi — Jangpura, Sarai Kale Khan, New Ashok Nagar, and Anand Vihar — of which only Anand Vihar station is underground.

• From this station, New Ashok Nagar towards Delhi and Sahibabad towards Ghaziabad are being built as elevated RRTS stations.

Underground construction: Two machines were already working on tunnel construction from Anand Vihar RRTS station towards New Ashok Nagar RRTS station.

• They were deployed to construct two parallel tunnels of 3 km length.

• The third TBM will be working on a 2 km-long tunnel, which will end in front of Vaishali metro station. This part will also have two parallel tunnels for arrival and departure of trains.

• The launching shaft for the third TBM has been made at the north of Anand Vihar RRTS station, from where tunnel construction has commenced.

• At the same time, at the end of the tunnel, a retrieving shaft is being built in front of Vaishali metro station, from where the Sudarshan (TBM) will be retrieved.

The tunnels: Tunnel rings are made underground by TBM with the help of tunnel segments. Seven tunnel segments are generally used to form a tunnel ring.

• The tunnel segments are being manufactured at the NCRTC's Casting Yard with assured quality control.

• Due to the large rolling stock and a high-design speed of 180 mph, the width of RRTS tunnels is being built to 6.5 m in diameter.

• Compared to the metro systems, this is for the first time that a tunnel of such a large size is being built in the country.

TBM: The 90 metre-long Sudarshan (TBM) is being used. This TBM consists of a cutter head, front shield, middle shield, tail shield, erector, screw conveyor, and many other important parts.

Safety provisions: Various security measures have been made to ensure passenger safety.

• Emergency exits will be made in the underground sections for the safety of passengers in case of an emergency.

• A cross-passage will be provided roughly every 250 metres.

• The RRTS tunnel will also have ventilation ducts to ensure air movement.

• A 60-90 cm-wide side walkway will assist in maintenance activities and also act as an additional emergency exit.

Fast-paced construction: The NCRTC is using state-of-the-art technologies to ensure safe and timely completion of works while minimising inconvenience to 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 minimising construction work on site.

• The civil construction work of the priority section has reached the final stage and the trial run is expected to commence this year.

Why RRTS: The corridor will decongest the national capital, reduce vehicular traffic and air pollution, and ensure balanced regional development.