Delhi (Metro Rail News): National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) is preparing to start trial runs later this year on the 17 KM priority section of the Delhi-Ghaziabad Meerut RRTS route between Sahibabad and Duhai, which is expected to be operational by March 2023. The 82 KM Delhi-Ghaziabad Meerut RRTS line will have 25 stations, two depots, and one stabling yard when it will be operational in 2025.
The RRTS corridor will run from Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi to Modipuram in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, passing through Ghaziabad.
NCRTC’s senior management team, led by managing director Vinay Kumar Singh, recently paid a visit to the RRTS trainset manufacturing plant and the propulsion factory, both of which are located in Gujarat.
Under the Make in India regulations, 100% of trainsets for the country’s first RRTS will be manufactured in India, with over 80% of the work being done locally. Alstom’s plant in Savli, Gujarat, is manufacturing the trainsets. In addition, the bogies, car bodies, and train testing are all manufactured at this location.
NCRTC staff evaluated the production progress of the 6-car prototype RRTS Train at the factory. The first trainset’s six cars are all at various stages of final assembly.
NCRTC crew also paid a visit to the Maneja propulsion factory, where traction/auxiliary converters/inverters were being manufactured and tested. In the following months, semi high-speed first of its kind aerodynamic trainsets with distributed power will begin.
Given the operational speed of 160 kmph and stations every 5-10 km, the RRTS trains are constructed with high-acceleration and high-deceleration in mind.
As per NCRTC, RRTS trainsets will be the first of their kind in India, with a design speed of 180 kmph. For the first RRTS route, the Savli manufacturing facility will supply 210 cars (40 trainsets). This contains 30 trainsets with six cars each for regional transit on the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor and ten trainsets with three cars each for local transit in Meerut.
NCRTC released the initial look of the train for India’s first Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) in September 2020. The NCRTC claimed the trainsets’ aesthetics will be inspired by Delhi’s landmark monument, The Lotus Temple, and will reflect a unique fusion of sustainability and India’s rich heritage.
RRTS trains will have ergonomically built 2×2 transverse seating, comfortable standing space, luggage racks, CCTV cameras, laptop/mobile charging stations, dynamic route maps, and an auto control ambient lighting system, among other amenities.
The air-conditioned RRTS trains will have standard and premium class (one coach per train) and one coach reserved for women passengers.
This line will be the first in India to use the European Train Control System (ETCS) hybrid Level 2 signalling system, which is the core signalling and train control component of the European Rail Traffic Management System.
