The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a
500 million loan , the first tranche of a total 1 billion facility, for Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor.
It will improve regional connectivity and mobility in India’s national capital region (NCR).
The first tranche loan will support the construction of the first of three priority rail corridors planned under the NCR Regional Plan 2021 to connect Delhito other cities in adjoining states.
With a design speed of 180 km per hour and high-frequency operations of every 5–10 minutes, the 82-km corridor connects Sarai Kale Khan in Delhito Modipuram in Meerut in Uttar Pradesh.
It is expected to reduce the journey time to about 1 hour from the present 3–4 hours.
The first tranche financing will be used for constructing electrified tracks, signalling systems, multimodal hubs and stations with design features that are friendly to the elderly, women, children and the disabled.