17km of RRTS line from Duhai to Modinagar to be ready for operations soon

Ghaziabad: The officials of the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), the agency executing the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project, said train services are likely to be start on the 17km stretch of RRTS from Duhai to Modinagar (north) soon.

The NCRTC sources said trials are presently underway on the 25km stretch from Duhai to Meerut (south) and this section was expected to get operational before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

However, the sources said on Thursday that works are still going on at the Meerut (south) station and even if the section gets inaugurated before the elections, the Meerut (south) station may be excluded.

The 25km section has stations at Duhai, Muradnagar, Modinagar (south), Modinagar (north) in Ghaziabad and Meerut (south) in Meerut. NCRTC sources said excluding the Meerut (south) station, 17km of this section is ready for train operations.

“Presently, trial runs are underway from Duhai to Meerut South. Finishing touches are being given to stations at Muradnagar, Modinagar (south), Modinagar (north), and Meerut (south). The train services are expected to be extended very soon from Duhai to Modinagar (north) and commuters can travel up to a distance of 34km, from Sahibabad to Modinagar (north),” said a spokesperson of NCRTC.

The 17km priority section, from Sahibabad to Duhai, is already operational in Ghaziabad. Once the additional 17km section from Duhai to Modinagar (north) opens up, all the eight RRTS stations in Ghaziabad will become operational, said NCRTC officials.

The entire RRTS network spans 82km between Delhi, Ghaziabad and Meerut and is likely to be ready by June 2025. The project is estimated to cost about ₹30,274 crore and the four stations in Delhi will be the last stretch to get completed.

The NCRTC spokesperson quoted above said the Duhai Depot in Ghaziabad currently houses 16 train sets and the first train set to be run on the local metro module in Meerut arrived at the Duhai Depot on Wednesday.

A total of 10 trains will run on RRTS infrastructure as a metro module to cater to short distance passengers in Meerut.