Rapid transit systems to link Delhi with Alwar, Panipat and Meerut

A National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) will be constituted within the next two months to develop and operate three Regional Rapid Transit systems (RRTS) corridors linking Delhi with Alwar, Panipat and Meerut to provide comfortable and fast transit to the National Capital Region (NCR).

The union cabinet Thursday took this decision under which the NCRTC will be formed with an initial seed capital of Rs.100 crore as per the Company Act, 1956 for designing, developing, implementing, financing, operating and maintaining the RRTS.

The NCRTC may form subsidiary companies for implementing each corridor, an official statement released after the cabinet meeting said.

The Centre and the state governments of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh would contribute equally to the initial seed capital of Rs.100 crore.

While the urban development and railway ministries would each contribute 22.5 percent of the amount, the National Capital Region Planning Board would contribute 5 percent. The four state governments -- Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh -- would pool in 12.5 percent each.

The first corridor Delhi-Sonipat-Panipat is 111 km long and the daily ridership is estimated to be 3.77 lakh in 2016 which may grow to 9.83 lakh by 2041.

The second corridor Delhi-Gurgaon-Alwar is 180 km long and estimated to carry 6.9 lakh people daily in 2016 which will go up to 15.1 lakh by 2041.

The third corridor Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut is 90 km long and would carry an estimated 5.7 lakh people everyday in 2016 and 11.4 by 2041.

The total length of the three corridors to be developed by NCRTC is 381 km.

The National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) had earlier prepared a "Functional Plan on Transport for NCR-2032", which had recommended eight RRTS Corridors to connect important towns of the NCR with a high-speed rail-based commuter transit system.

A Task Force set up by the Planning Commission for the RRTS for the NCR in 2009 had proposed the construction of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the implementation of a comprehensive integrated multi-modal sub­urban commuter transportation system for the NCR, to start with a corpus of Rs.100 crore.

In 2011, NCRPB and the governments of Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the formation of the NCRTC.