By Anand Singh

New Delhi, Jun 10 (IANS): The NCRTC which is undertaking the construction work of the first Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) at semi-high speed Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor will be using the modern ETCS (European Train Control System) Level-II signalling system, officials said on Wednesday.

According to NCRTC officials, the civil construction work for India's first 82 km-long RRTS corridor is underway and is expected to be completed by 2025.

The official said the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) has been leveraging technology for the efficient execution of the project and the RRTS will have state-of-the-art system that will mark many firsts in India.

"One of them is its signalling system," an official said, adding that NCRTC will be using modern ETCS Level-2 signalling system for the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor.

He said, ETCS Level-II Signalling is used globally for high-speed railway transit.

Another official related to the development said, "The journey through RRTS will not only be comfortable but will also be faster and safer".

He said in order to ensure safe commuting, ETCS system will monitor the train speed and direction besides providing operation directives using radio block centre.

The official said the use of virtual block facilitated by ETCS Level-II signalling eliminates any possibility of train collision by ensuring that there is never more than one train in a single virtual block at any given time.

"ETCS also supports ATO functionality that controls the train's traction system, acceleration, braking and stopping of trains. It will have LTE as communication backbone to cater to ETCS data, Mission Critical Voice and On-Board CCTV streaming," the NCRTC official said.

He emphasised that to avoid any possibility of accidental fall on the tracks, all the RRTS stations will have platform screen doors (PSDs).

The PSDs will be integrated with the ETCS, ensuring that the train doors and PSDs are synchronized and the train starts only after both train doors and PSDs are closed, thus ensuring safety of the commuters, he said.

Pointing out at the benefits of the RRTS corridors, the official said that besides enabling train movement at quick frequencies even at higher speed of 160kmph, the ETCS Level-II signalling system will also facilitate inter-operability of all the three RRTS Corridors -- Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut, Delhi-Gurugram-SNB (Shahjahanpur-Neemrana-Behror Urban Complex) and Delhi-Panipat.

"This will reduce interchanges in the journey leading to lower waiting time for passengers. It also reduces the chances of any untoward incidents and allows uninterrupted all-weather train operations," the official said.

The official further said that the NCRTC has invited tenders for signalling and telecom systems for the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor.

"The ETCS Level-II modern signalling with virtual blocks and ATO functionality over LTE backbone is being used for the first time in India," the official said, adding that telecom subsystems such as CCTV, PIDS, PAS, FOTS, ACIDS, Master Clock, Telecom SCADA, Telephone, CDRS and Train to Ground Wireless Network are also part of the package.

The NCRTC, a joint sector company of Central government and states of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, is mandated to implement the RRTS project across the national capital region, ensuring a balanced and sustainable urban development through better connectivity and access.

According to NCRTC officials, the 82-km Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS will boast a 180 kmph design speed, a first-of-its-kind rolling stock in India for regional transit services and will be implemented in phases between the cities.

The official said that the corridor will have 24 stations and the trains will reduce travel time from Delhi to Meerut to 55 minutes and daily expected ridership is eight lakh passengers.

The RRTS is a first-of-its-kind semi-high speed public transport being implemented in India.

In phase one, work on three corridors, Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut, Delhi-Gurugram-Alwar and Delhi-Panipat is being implemented.

The other highlight of the RRTS project will also be promotion of the Make in India initiative of the government. The NCRTC has finalized the procurement of rolling stock for Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor under Make in India initiative.

The official said the trainsets for the first corridor will be manufactured by Bombardier Transportation India Private Limited in their Savli plant in Gujarat.

He said the entire rolling stock for Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor will be manufactured in India, marking 100 per cent local manufacturing.