Delhi-Meerut RRTS: Design consultant engaged for developing Sarai Kale Khan terminal as mega transport hub

Delhi-Meerut RRTS: The Sarai Kale Khan station, on the upcoming regional rapid transit system (RRTS), will become India’s first mega transit hub! The mega terminal with multi model integration (MMI) will be the converging point of the three prioritized RRTS lines – Delhi-Meerut, Delhi-Alwar and Delhi-Panipat. The National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) is responsible for implementing the RRTS project in Delhi and the national capital region (NCR). As confirmed by NCRTC to Financial Express Online, the organisation has engaged a design consultant to prepare an integrated plan for developing the entire Sarai Kale Khan transport hub. The station will be part of an integrated transport hub and not just a standalone facility.

Sarai Kale Khan RRTS station: Features of the mega transport hub

• The Sarai Kale Khan RRTS terminal will be situated close to the existing Inter-State Bus Terminal (ISBT), Delhi Metro Pink Line’s Hazrat Nizamuddin metro station and the Indian Railways’ Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station.
• During the construction of the terminal, the organization will also work on the renovation of the Sarai Kale Khan ISBT.
• The revamp of the terminal will include the following; creating a smooth and scientific bus flow inside the ISBT and creation of the pedestrian plazas and landscaping
• The Sarai Kale Khan RRTS station will be spread over an area which will be 50 metres wide and 300 metres long.
• The station is proposed to be spacious as the three prioritized RRTS corridors are going to converge at the station. A total of six tracks will converge at Sarai Kale Khan, according to NCRTC.

According to NCRTC, the design consultant has begun the work on the integration plan of the station. The three priority corridors of RRTS Phase-1 namely, Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut, Delhi-Gurugram-Alwar and Delhi-Sonipat-Panipat will converge at Sarai Kale Khan.

The 82 km long Delhi-Meerut has been targeted for getting operational by 2025, while a section of the corridor Sahibabad to Duhai has been targeted for getting functional by the year 2023.

The RRTS network will be the first transport infrastructural project in the country to adopt the ETCS (European Train Control System) Level 2 signalling system. This system has one of the most advanced train control features, which will be utilized for the RRTS trains.