RRTS trials to start soon in phased manner for 17km section in Ghaziabad

The trial run on the 17km priority section in Ghaziabad of the regional rapid transit system (RRTS) will begin in a “phased manner” in the coming days in December, said officials of the National Capital Region transport corporation (NCRTC), which is executing the 82km-long project.

This will be India’s first RRTS corridor and will link Delhi, Ghaziabad and Meerut with high-speed train connectivity.

The NCRTC said on Wednesday that it has finished laying 34km tracks on both sides of the 17km priority section, while the viaduct was finished in October. “Along with this, the installation of over-head equipment (OHE) and signalling equipment is also progressing at a fast pace. So far, the installation of over 75% OHE on the viaduct has been completed. The four trains stationed at the Duhai depot in Ghaziabad have also been readied for the trial run and their regular static and dynamic tests are continuously being taken up,” said Puneet Vats, chief public relations officer of NCRTC.

The 17km section in Ghaziabad has five stations at Sahibabad, Ghaziabad city, Guldhar, Duhai and Duhai Depot.

“The trial run is not completely dependent on completion of signalling and OHE and the trials will be taken up in a phased manner for the 17km section. This will include speed trials, integrated trials and load test trials, among others. The pending infrastructure works are getting expedited and trials may commence in the coming days,” Vats added.

Officials said the OHE will be energised with a capacity of 25,000 volts and an agreement for power supply has been signed with the Uttar Pradesh power transmission corporation limited.

The trials will be carried out with the help of four RRTS trains received from manufacturing facility at Savli in Gujarat, and they will go on till the priority section is ready for passenger operations in March next year.

The entire 82km project is expected to open for passengers in March 2025 and has 25 RRTS stations, with 22 of these in Uttar Pradesh.