Delhi-Dehradun Expressway: Final Trial Runs Underway For 210-km Project, To Cut Travel Time By Half From January 2025

The travel time from Delhi to Dehradun is set to decrease from six hours to just 2.5 hours with the much-anticipated completion of the Delhi-Dehradun expressway.

Trial runs are currently taking place on the new elevated road, which is projected to be fully operational by January 2025.

Approved by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), this expressway will link three states — Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand — connecting Delhi to Dehradun via Saharanpur.

Unlike the existing route that passes through Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, and Roorkee, the new expressway will take a path through Baghpat and Saharanpur.

Initiated in January 2021, the project is expected to be completed by December 2024, with only minor work left to finish.

The construction was divided into four phases —

• Phase 1 connects Akshardham Temple (Delhi) to Baghpat (UP)

• Phase 2 links Baghpat (UP) to Saharanpur (UP)

• Phase 3 goes from Saharanpur (UP) to Ganeshpur (Uttarakhand)

• Phase 4 extends from Ganeshpur (Uttarakhand) to Dehradun (Uttarakhand)

A key feature of this 210-kilometre (km)-long expressway is Asia's longest elevated wildlife corridor, which stretches 12 km between Asharodi and Ganeshpur.

Designed to minimise disruption to wildlife in Rajaji National Park and the Shivalik Reserve, this elevated section will reduce travel time on the last 20 km of the expressway to just 15-20 minutes.

Currently, heavy vehicle traffic can take up to an hour to navigate this stretch, but the new corridor will ease congestion, allowing for smoother travel through this ecologically sensitive area.

The total cost of constructing this high-speed corridor, which includes both ground-level and elevated segments, is estimated at Rs 12,000 crore.