The Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor of India’s first rapid rail saw the first tunnel for the Delhi section on Saturday. Tunnel boring machine Sudarshan 4.1 achieved success in East Delhi’s Khichdipur. The 3-km tunnel is the longest made by any tunnel-boring machine in Delhi, and its construction was to begin in January 2022. Over 14,000 high-precision pre-cast tunnel segments have been used to ensure long tunnel life, the National Capital Regional Transport Corporation (NCRTC) said in a statement.
Four tunnels are being constructed in Delhi for 82 km of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) for movement in both directions. NCRTC said that two parallel tunnels of about 3 km each are being constructed between Anand Vihar and Khichdipur towards New Ashok Nagar RRTS station. Another set of parallel tunnels of about 2 km is being constructed between Anand Vihar and Vaishali towards Sahibabad RRTS station.
Read also: PM Modi flags off Chennai-Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express: Ticket price, route, timings
The RRTS tunnels have a diameter of 6.5 metres, which is highly optimized as compared to the global benchmark of tunnels for the same design speed of 180 kmph with wider and higher rolling stock.
“NCRTC today achieved its first tunnel breakthrough for the Delhi section of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor,” NCRTC said. Manoj Joshi, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs inaugurated the breakthrough by pushing the lever in the presence of Vinay Kumar Singh, MD, NCRTC.
“RRTS aims at reducing regional mobility in NCR, thereby reducing vehicular congestion and reducing air pollution. Multi-modal integration has been an important consideration while planning and implementing RRTS. I am confident that it Will enhance the quality of life in NCR.” Joshi said.
The NCRTC said that the tunnel leading to New Ashok Nagar interacts very closely with the existing metro station piling structures, foundation of the expressway and non-engineered buildings at Patparganj and Khichdipur.
NCRTC is targeting to open the entire 82 km RRTS corridor to the public by 2025. Earlier, it would operate the 17 km long priority section between Sahibabad and Duhai.
The second tunnel boring machine Sudarshan 4.2 has completed the work of digging about 2.5 km tunnel in the same direction. And Sudarshan 4.3 and 4.4 are tunnel boring in Anand Vihar to Sahibabad direction, and they have completed tunneling of over 1.5 km and 1 km respectively.