Green signal for two new rapid rail transit links Delhi-Bahadurgarh-Rohtak-Hisar,

Green signal for two new rapid rail transit links Delhi-Bahadurgarh-Rohtak-Hisar,

Fri Nov 30 2012, 03:00 hrs

New Delhi : NCR Kamal Nath announces Delhi-Bahadurgarh-Rohtak-Hisar,

Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath on Thursday announced that two new regional rapid transit system (RRTS) corridors — Delhi-Bahadurgarh-Rohtak-Hisar and Delhi-Shahdara-Baraut — will be built to improve connectivity between Delhi and states such as Haryana and UP.

“We have approved two rail corridors, Delhi-Rohtak up to Hisar and Delhi-Shahdara-Baraut,” Kamal Nath said after a meeting on the RRTS for the NCR. These corridors will be taken up in addition to the proposed Delhi-Gurgaon-Alwar, Delhi-Sonepat-Panipat and Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut links.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said: “While the north, south and east sides of Delhi have been taken up in the first phase of RRTS, the west side, which extends up to Hisar-Rohtak, had been left out. We urged the Urban Development Minister to consider taking up another corridor, extending it till Hisar as it is a counter-magnet town and will serve the purpose of NCR planning.’’

Stressing on the need to develop such corridors, Kamal Nath said: “The population of Delhi is increasing and there was consensus that means of transport have to be developed from the small towns to Delhi. This meeting on RRTS was called to fast-track these projects.’’

According to Urban Development Ministry officials, such corridors will help create economic opportunities and provide a fast mode of travel for people coming from UP, Haryana to work in Delhi and vice-versa.

While the feasibility study for three corridors — Delhi-Panipat (111 km), Delhi-Alwar corridor (180 km) and Delhi-Meerut (90 km) — has been completed, a detailed project report will now be prepared for them. The budget for the three corridors will be around Rs 72,000 crore, officials said.

“Reports are being prepared and we believe that work on these three corridors is likely to start in another two years,’’ Kamal Nath said. These high-speed trains will run at a speed of 160 km per hour.