Viaduct of RRTS corridor crossing over Delhi Metro Blue Line constructed: NCRTC

The NCRTC has achievement a new milestone with the construction of a viaduct of the Delhi-Meerut RRTS corridor crossing over the existing viaduct of the Delhi Metro's Blue Line corridor successfully, officials said on Friday.

The under-construction Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor being built for a semi-high-speed regional rail service named 'RAPIDX' by the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), is a joint venture company of the Centre with the governments of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

''Being constructed as a part of a long-term strategic solution to the pollution and congestion conundrum of Delhi, the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor has achieved an important milestone in Delhi. The construction of the viaduct of the RRTS corridor crossing over the viaduct of the Blue Line of the Delhi Metro corridor has been completed successfully,'' the NCRTC said in a statement.

The viaduct of the RRTS corridor crosses the Delhi Metro corridor at a height of about 20 metres, at a point near the New Ashok Nagar metro station. ''Carrying out construction work at such a height over the existing and already operational metro track successfully is a big achievement from the engineering point of view,” a senior official said.

“Moving from Sarai Kale Khan RRTS station towards New Ashok RRTS station, the elevated alignment of the RRTS corridor is crossing the viaduct of the Blue Line of Delhi Metro which provides services to a large number of people every day,'' the official said.

To ensure convenience and safety of commuters travelling from this station, ''construction of this part of viaduct has been done during the night time only'' with the help of 'Tarini', a launching gantry. In this process, segments of the girders were lifted and joined together to construct the full span of the viaduct, the statement said.

The NCRTC received unwavering support from the DMRC during this whole construction and the construction was completed safely by the NCRTC with uninterrupted services of the metro, officials said. Multi-modal integration is the guiding principle of the RRTS project being implemented by NCRTC, and to facilitate this, RRTS stations have been strategically planned in such a way that they can be built as close as possible to the existing modes of public transport, NCRTC officials said.

''Provisions have been made to provide seamless connectivity for a smooth and uninterrupted travel experience for commuters. The NCRTC, while ensuring this, has also had to face many complexities related to construction and civil engineering, but with innovative techniques and strategic planning, it was made possible,'' the statement said.

New Ashok Nagar metro station receives a large number of commuters from Noida. Once the RRTS corridor is operational, commuters would have the option to travel towards Meerut or other RRTS corridors from this station, it said. To provide connectivity between RRTS station and the metro station, NCRTC is constructing a foot-over bridge (FOB), about 90 metres long and 6 metres wide. The height of this FOB will be 8 metres, the NCRTC said.

It will facilitate seamless movement of commuters between both modes of transport without exiting the station premises ensuring that there is less congestion outside the station. It will especially ensure a convenient and comfortable travel experience for women, the elderly, children, and commuters travelling with luggage, the statement said.

Moreover, to provide better connectivity and accessibility to the station from the nearby areas, the NCRTC is also constructing two more FOBs at this station to connect residential areas.

So far, construction of more than 5-km-long viaduct has been completed in Delhi, out of a total 9-km elevated section, besides the completion of 90 per cent of the pillar construction.

Delhi has around a 14-km-long section and the rest is an underground section for which construction of tunnels have already been completed, the statement said.

The NCRTC aims to operationalise the entire Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor by 2025. Before that, a 17-km-long priority section will be commissioned for the public soon this year, it added.

The Commissioner for Metro Rail Safety had approved the operation of the RAPIDX service on the priority section of the Delhi-Meerut Regional RRTS corridor, NCRTC officials had said in June.

The 17-km priority section of the corridor is between Sahibabad and Duhai Depot.