NCRTC Completes Upgrade on Delhi Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Corridor

The National Capital Regional Transport Corporation (NCRTC) has completed the installation of 169 km (TKM) of precast slab track on Delhi Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor. This will be the country’s first semi-high-speed regional rapid transit system (RRTS).

These slabs are manufactured elsewhere and then brought to the site instead of being manufactured on the site. According to NCRTC, the work involves the production and laying of approximately 47,000 high-precision precast concrete slabs, which will form the base of the railway tracks.

For the first time in India, precast track labs will be used at track turnouts, which are junctions where trains can switch from one track to another. A total of 135 such turnouts: eight different configurations and 15 slabs each, have been installed according to the NCRTC. The project used a total of 140 different types of slabs, making logistics and inventory management a difficult task to attend to and execute.

The new track system is designed to support a trial speed of up to 180 km/h and an operational speed of 160 Kmph. Currently, trains are undergoing trial runs at higher speeds on certain sections. The 55 km corridor from New Ashok Nagar in Delhi to Meerut South in Uttar Pradesh has been commissioned and operationalised.

Stretches of the entire 82 km corridor are expected to become fully operational by the end of June.