The Ghaziabad–Jewar Regional Rapid Transit System (Ghaziabad–Jewar RRTS) is a proposed semi high-speed rail and regional transit corridor that will connect the National Capital Region cities of Ghaziabad and Noida with Noida International Airport at Jewar. It is the fourth of the four rapid rail corridors planned under the first phase of the RapidX project managed by the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC). It will be built to allow a maximum speed of , and the distance between Ghaziabad, Noida and the airport will be covered in less than 40–50 minutes. The project is estimated to cost approximately ₹20,640 crore (US$2.5 billion). It will originate from Ghaziabad, run through Noida, Greater Noida, YEIDA City and end at the Noida International Airport at Jewar. It will have 12 stations and two depots on both the northern and southern ends of the corridor.
The project comprises two sections to distinguish between the urban and the rural divisions. The first will be from Ghaziabad to Kasna or Ecotech VI of Greater Noida, covering by running in tandem with Noida Metro's extension between Char Murti Chowk and Knowledge Park-V, while concurrently integrating with Delhi Metro's Red Line at Ghaziabad.
The second will be from Kasna or Ecotech VI to Noida International Airport at Jewar by passing through the under-development YEIDA City, covering , where it will be integrated with the proposed light rail line, which will serve the upcoming Noida Film City. The RRTS project was given an in-principle approval by the Government of Uttar Pradesh in December 2023, and the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority issued work order to the owner of the four RRTS corridors, NCRTC, to prepare the detailed project report of the project in January 2024. The NCRTC submitted the DPR within three months to YEIDA and the Government of Uttar Pradesh in April 2024.
History
NCR Transport plan
In response to the growing challenges of population growth, traffic congestion, pollution, and road safety in the National Capital Region, the Planning Commission formed a task force in 2005, chaired by the Secretary of the Ministry of Urban Development. The goal was to develop a multi-modal regional transit system to improve connectivity in the region. This initiative became part of the Integrated Transport Plan for NCR 2032, with a particular focus on establishing a Regional Rapid Transit System to link regional centers.
In 2013, the Governments of India and Delhi moved forward with plans to create a regional railway system that would directly connect Delhi with neighboring cities and areas in the NCR and beyond. This led to the establishment of the National Capital Region Transport Corporation in July 2013, a joint venture between the Governments of India and the states of Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi. The NCRTC was tasked with building, owning, and operating the RRTS to reduce reliance on road transport and improve regional connectivity. Within Delhi, the RRTS will primarily operate underground and integrate with the Delhi Metro, offering commuters a faster transit option and improved last-mile connectivity. This system draws inspiration from successful regional transit networks like London's Crossrail, Paris' RER and Munich's S-Bahn, aiming to provide a modern and efficient transit solution for the NCR.
Initially, eight corridors spanning at least 1,000 km (620 mi) across the NCR were proposed for implementation. This number has since increased to nine, with four corridors prioritized for development in the coming years: Delhi–Meerut, Delhi–Alwar, Delhi–Panipat, and Ghaziabad–Jewar. The Delhi–Meerut corridor was selected as the first to be implemented due to the high volume of daily travelers and significant traffic between the two cities. As a result, the central and state governments, along with the NCRTC, conducted feasibility studies and approved its construction.
The Ghaziabad–Jewar corridor is the most recent addition, announced by the Government of Uttar Pradesh in December 2023. This corridor aims to establish direct and seamless connectivity to the under-construction YEIDA City and the Noida International Airport in Jewar.
RRTS for Jewar Airport
There have been plans to link the under-construction Noida International Airport in Jewar with Delhi and the rest of the National Capital Region (NCR) through a direct metro line since May 2019, when the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) showcased their plans with seven options, including either to make Greater Noida the origin of the line as a second line of Noida Metro, or extending the Delhi Metro's Violet Line till the airport from its terminating point at Faridabad. In June 2023, an RRTS corridor plan was presented by the DMRC to link the airport with Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, the current primary airport of the NCR, as an 'Airport Express Corridor'. However, although the option of extending the Violet Line continues to be the most feasible option to connect southern Delhi, Gurugram and Faridabad with the airport, the plan for the line from Greater Noida to the airport as a second line of Noida Metro was shelved in October 2023, when V. K. Singh, then minister of state for road transport and highways as well as civil aviation, introduced the proposal of creating an RRTS corridor from Ghaziabad to the airport.
In response to this, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, expressed interest to the owner of the four Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridors, NCRTC on creating a corridor from Delhi's Sarai Kale Khan station, the terminal station of the three corridors to Meerut, Panipat and Alwar, to the under-construction Noida International Airport at Jewar, in order to provide a direct link to the new airport from Delhi and the rest of the National Capital Region (NCR). Nonetheless, due to lack of space and limited feasibility, the plan was changed to make the corridor start from Ghaziabad station on the Delhi–Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System, which has been built with four platforms to serve two corridors, and pass through Noida, Greater Noida and take course on the Yamuna Expressway before terminating at Jewar Airport.
In December 2023, the Government of Uttar Pradesh approved the plan for , and the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) directed the NCRTC to prepare the Detailed Project Report (DPR) and the feasibility study of the project in January 2024, and began the geotechnical survey for preparing the DPR in the same month in Greater Noida. At the time, it was reported that the opening could be in 2030 "if everything unfolds as planned". The NCRTC submitted the DPR and the feasibility study in three months to the YEIDA and the Government of Uttar Pradesh in April 2024, and is currently waiting for a final approval from the Governments of India and Uttar Pradesh. In August 2024, the NCRTC submitted a revised DPR to the Government of Uttar Pradesh for allowing final execution of the project.
Construction
In January 2024, the NCRTC was directed by the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority to carry out the preparatory works for construction and preparing the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the corridor. Therefore, the NCRTC undertook the geotechnical survey of the corridor's alignment by awarding the work to Cengrs Geotechnica, a Noida-based firm, and then started to prepare the DPR in the same month. It submitted the DPR to the Government of Uttar Pradesh and YEIDA in April 2024. As of May 2024, it is awaiting final approval from the Government of India, Government of Uttar Pradesh, and YEIDA before construction can commence.
Source of funding
In March 2024, the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) finalised and approved the project's funding of about , of which 50% will be funded by the Government of India, 30% by the YEIDA and the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) and 20% by the Government of Uttar Pradesh. The funding was done under the interim national budget of financial year 2024-25.
Sections
The entire length of has been divided into two sections to distinguish between the urban and rural divisions and traffic in the areas, according to the Detailed Project Report (DPR), which states that the first section is projected to witness more passengers, as this route is surrounded by densely populated areas of Ghaziabad, Noida and Greater Noida, as compared to the second section that is currently surrounded by rural areas as part of the upcoming YEIDA City. The corridor will be integrated with Delhi Metro and Noida Metro, with which it will run and operate the metro on a single corridor, similar to the Meerut Metro being built on a single corridor of the Delhi–Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System. The entire route will have a total of 22 stations-12 for the RRTS and 10 for the Noida Metro and a proposed light rail project to serve Noida Film City. It will be designed for a maximum speed of , with an operating speed of . The average speed will be .
Section I
The first section covering will be entirely elevated, starting from Ghaziabad station on the Delhi–Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System to Kasna or Ecotech VI in Greater Noida, with seven RRTS stations and 11 Noida Metro stations, with a provision to add three more RRTS stations in the future, to be built at an estimated cost of about . It will traverse along the Vishvakarma road in Siddharth Vihar and Pratap Vihar in Ghaziabad, Taj highway, Char Murti Chowk, Greater Noida Link road at Knowledge Park-V, and then will turn towards Surajpur-Kasna road, before passing through Pari Chowk, which ends at Ecotech VI in Kasna. The first section will integrate as one corridor with the proposed Noida Metro's extension between Char Murti Chowk and Knowledge Park-V. It will also integrate with Delhi Metro's Red Line at Ghaziabad, the Aqua Line of Noida Metro at Char Murti Chowk and Alpha I station of Aqua Line near Pari Chowk.
Section II
The second section will cover will also be elevated, starting from Kasna or Ecotech VI to Noida International Airport at Jewar, with four RRTS stations and one metro station, to be built at a cost of about , with a provision to add ten more metro stations in the future. Its alignment will pass along the Yamuna Expressway through the towns and villages of Dankaur, Dhanauri, Kanarsi, Bhatta, Parsaul, Rabupura, Dayanatpur and Kishorpur before reaching Noida International Airport, which will be built underground. It will be integrated as one corridor with the proposed light rail corridor, aimed to connect the under-construction airport with Sector 21, where the Noida Film City is being developed.
Stations
The RRTS corridor will begin from Ghaziabad, through which the existing Delhi–Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System operates with a stop, pass through Noida and Greater Noida by running along with the Noida Metro, and take its course from the Yamuna Expressway along the YEIDA City by running simultaneously with the proposed -long light rail corridor linking Noida Film City, before ending at Noida International Airport in Jewar. The corridor will have a total of 12 stations, with 11 intermediate stations as metro and light rail stations, where the RRTS will not have any stops. The RRTS will have a provision of adding an additional ten metro stations and one RRTS station to specially cater to the traffic of the upcoming YEIDA City in the coming years. It will have two depots on its northern and southern sides, whose locations are yet to be finalised. The designs of the stations are also yet to be done.