Atmanirbhar Bharat: Indigenous Platform Screen Doors For Delhi-Meerut Rapid Rail

Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS): The country's first regional rapid corridor, which will connect Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut, will now comprise indigenous platform screen doors (PSDs) under Prime Minister's Narendra Modi's Armanirbhar Bharat policy. Recently, the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for the development of indigenous platform doors to be installed in the Delhi-Meerut rapid rail train sets. The 82-km long Delhi-Meerut RRTS, which when completely implemented, will reduce the distance between Delhi and Meerut to just 55 minutes, will also have ‘Make In India' rolling stock.

The National Capital Region Transport Corporation, a state-owned special purpose vehicle (SPV) is responsible for implementing the RRTS project across the national capital region (NCR).

Delhi-Meerut rapid rail corridor: What is the significance of platform screen doors?

• According to NCRTC, the indigenous platform screen doors will act as a safety barrier between the passengers on the platform and the train or track, given the high-speed train movement at rapid frequencies.
• The screen doors will not only help in better crowd management at the RRTS stations, but also prevent any untoward incidents such as jumping or falling on the track.

So far, all the platform screen doors used in the country for urban transport systems such as bus rapid transit, metro rail, etc were imported.

The agreement signed between NCRTC and BEL will enable them to design and develop platform screen dors for various rail-based systems in the country and abroad. This is the first-of-its-kind initiative where an indigenously developed platform screen door system will be used in the country and will also be exported globally.

Delhi-Meerut regional rapid transit system - top features:

• Once fully operational, the semi-high speed Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor will cover a distance of 82 km through its rapid rail coaches on a ballastless track with an attainable operational speed of 160 kmph.
• The rapid rail aims to reduce the travel time between Delhi and Meerut to just 55 minutes and will cover a total of 22 RRTS stations, across both elevated and underground sections.
• The priority section of the Delhi-Meerut rapid rail corridor will be the 17-km long Sahibabad-Duhai segment, which has been targeted for operations by 2023.
• Earlier in the year, Bombardier Transportation India Private Limited had won the 'Make In India' rolling stock tender for the Delhi-Meerut rapid rail corridor. Bombardier offered to manufacture 100 per cent of the rolling stock in the country using 83 per cent local content. (Also Read: L&T Bags Over ₹ 7,000-Crore Contract For Bullet Train Project )

Apart from the prioritized Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut rapid rail corridor, the other two corridors which will come up in the national capital region are Delhi-Gurugram-Rewari-Alwar and Delhi-Sonipat-Panipat RRTS corridors. These three corridors will converge at the Sarai Kale Khan RRTS station in Delhi.