Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS Corridor: First Tunnel Breakthrough For Delhi Section Achieved

NCRTC has achieved its first tunnel breakthrough for the Delhi section of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor on Saturday (8 April).

The Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), Sudarshan 4.1 made the breakthrough from the tunnel retrieval shaft constructed at Khichripur, Delhi.

Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Manoj Joshi initiated the breakthrough by pushing the lever in the presence of National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) MD Vinay Kumar Singh.

Senior officials of NCRTC and contractors were also present on the occasion.

The first TBM of Delhi section, ‘Sudarshan 4.1’, was lowered at the Anand Vihar launching shaft in January 2022, for the construction of RRTS tunnels between Anand Vihar and Khichripur. This RRTS tunnel is the longest tunnel in Delhi made by any TBM and is about 3 km long.

RRTS tunnels have a diameter of 6.5 m, which is highly optimised as compared to global benchmarks of tunnels for similar design speed of 180 kmph, with wider and higher rolling stock.

A total of four tunnels are being constructed in Delhi for the 82-km Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor, for to and fro movement in both directions.    

Two parallel tunnels of about 3 km long between Anand Vihar to Khichripur, towards New Ashok Nagar RRTS station and about 2 km long parallel tunnels from Anand Vihar to Vaishali, towards Sahibabad RRTS station are being constructed.

This is the first tunnel which has been completed in the Delhi section from Anand Vihar to Khichripur. The other TBM ‘Sudarshan 4.2' has completed tunnelling of about 2.5 km in the same direction.

On the other hand, Sudarshan 4.3 and 4.4 are boring tunnels in the direction of Sahibabad from Anand Vihar and have completed construction of more than 1.5 km and 1 km, respectively.  

Speaking on the occasion, secretary, MoHUA Manoj Joshi while congratulating NCRTC said, “RRTS is aimed to ease regional mobility in NCR thereby reducing vehicular congestion on roads and lowering air pollution. Multi-modal integration has been one important consideration while planning and implementing RRTS. I am confident that it will enhance the quality of life in NCR.”

Singh said, “I compliment the engineers of NCRTC as well as our construction partner for completing this section of tunneling which was a complex and challenging task.  Going towards New Ashok Nagar, it has negotiated very close to existing metro station piling structures in addition to foundations of expressways and non-engineered buildings in Patparganj and Khichripur."

NCRTC MD Singh further added, "NCRTC has prioritised commuters’ convenience over ease of construction. Sarai Kale Khan and Anand Vihar RRTS stations are examples of extensive multi-modal integration which will enable seamless transfers to stations of Indian Railways, ISBTs, city buses as well as Metro.”

In order to construct this 3-km-long RRTS tunnel, more than 14,000 high-precision precast tunnel segments have been used, which will ensure a long tunnel life. The tunnel segments of Delhi section are being casted at NCRTC's casting yard established at Karkardooma, Delhi.

NCRTC is aiming to commission the entire 82-km-long Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS for the public by 2025. Before that, it will operationalise a 17-km-long priority section between Sahibabad and Duhai shortly, before the scheduled time.