How Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS Corridor is promoting green infrastructure

New Delhi: India's first Regional Rapid Transit System- Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor, being implemented between the national capital and Meerut via Ghaziabad, Duhai and Modi Nagar, is a rail-based high speed, high frequency regional commuter transit system connecting metropolitan and big cities, towns and urban nodes across the National Capital Region (NCR).

It aims to empowers citizens through access, address issues of economic and social exclusion, promote balanced and sustainable economic development of NCR and help in reducing issues of severe congestion, energy consumption and hazardous pollution. The implementation of Delhi-Meerut RRTS corridor is estimated to increase the share of public transportation usage along the corridor from 37% to 63%. In addition, the system will lead to 60%-70% reduction in journey. Once operational, RRTS will take more than one lakh private vehicles off the road.

The implementation of the RRTS is an integral part of larger strategy to address issues of congestion and pollution and is part of ‘Comprehensive Action Plan’ (CAP) for Air Pollution Control in Delhi & NCR’ and the recommendation of ‘High Powered Committee on Decongesting Traffic in Delhi’.

The proposed RRTS is aimed at reducing Green House Gas (GHG) emissions and pollutions across the NCR region in line with international standards. Driven by electric traction, RRTS will serve as a green mode of transit in NCR. Estimated daily ridership on 82 km long Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Corridor is 8 lakhs.

"With the ever-increasing number of vehicles leading to higher pollution, NCR needs long term solutions to improve the air quality. A robust public transport network is the need of the hour. NCRTC is implementing RRTS, a safe, fast, reliable, eco-friendly, comfortable, and sustainable mobility solution in the National Capital Region. Apart from enabling polycentric development of the region, RRTS will also help in significantly reducing the air pollution, road congestion and accidents. Through extensive use of renewable energy and with lesser carbon footprints, RRTS would be one of the most green and clean mode of public transport in NCR," Puneet Vats- CPRO, NCRTC told Zee Media.

"Driven by its vision, NCRTC is taking conscious efforts to keep the environment clean even during the construction phase. Presently, construction is being done within the properly barricaded zones to mitigate pollution and there is an extensive use of anti-smog guns to contain the spreading of dust," he added.

40% of the total energy requirement of Delhi Meerut RRTS corridor is expected to be procured/generated from renewable energy. All elevated stations and depots will be provided with solar panels and net metering system with the grid supply. This strategy will help in achieving net zero energy concept which implies that most of the auxiliary power requirement will be met through solar energy.

Being a rail based transit system it will have 1/5th fuel consumption that compared with road vehicles due to reduced friction owing to steel to steel rolling contact.

The corridor is mostly elevated i.e about 71 km, taking only 3meter of road space and rest 11 km is underground, thus significantly producing lesser carbon footprints. 

Given the dire state of the air quality in NCR, the need to implement projects like RRTS becomes more critical. It is because of the multitude of benefits from the project in terms of decongestion and reduction in pollution, that implementation of RRTS was recommended in the Comprehensive Action Plan (CAP) for Air Pollution Control in Delhi & NCR.