The RRTS tunnels have a diameter of 6.5 metres, which is highly optimised when compared to global benchmarks of tunnels for a similar design speed of 180 kmph, with wider and higher rolling stock. The breakthrough in the Delhi section of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor was initiated by Manoj Joshi, secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, by pushing the lever in the presence of Vinay Kumar Singh, MD, NCRTC. "RRTS is aimed at easing regional mobility in NCR thereby reducing vehicular congestion on roads and lowering air pollution," said Joshi. "Multi-modal integration has been an important consideration while planning and implementing RRTS. I am confident that it will enhance the quality of life in NCR." The tunnel, going towards New Ashok Nagar, has negotiated very closely with existing metro station piling structures, the foundations of expressways, and non-engineered buildings in Patparganj and Khichdipur.
NCRTC aims to open the entire 82-km-long RRTS corridor to the public by 2025, and before that, it will operationalize a 17-km long priority section between Sahibabad and Duhai. Other tunnel boring machines, including Sudarshan 4.2, have completed tunnelling of about 2.5 km in the same direction, while Sudarshan 4.3 and 4.4 are boring tunnels in the direction of Sahibabad from Anand Vihar, and they have completed tunnelling more than 1.5 km and 1 km, respectively.
