212-km corridor slashes six-hour journey to under three hours; features India’s first elevated wildlife passage through Rajaji National Park
India’s connectivity map was redrawn on Tuesday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the long-awaited Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, a landmark ₹11,868.6 crore infrastructure project that will dramatically reduce travel time between the two cities from over six hours to approximately two and a half hours.
The 212-km economic corridor passes through Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, and has been developed across four phases. Phase 1 covers a 12-lane, 32-km stretch from Akshardham in Delhi to the Eastern Peripheral Expressway near Baghpat. Subsequent phases extend the corridor through Saharanpur and onward to Ganeshpur before connecting to Dehradun via twin tunnels and elevated sections.
A standout engineering achievement is the 12-km elevated wildlife corridor through Rajaji National Park, incorporating six animal underpasses, two 200-metre elephant underpasses, and a 370-metre tunnel near the Daat Kali temple ensuring safe movement for animals while enabling high-speed human transit above.
The expressway features over 100 underpasses, five railway overbridges, and an Advanced Traffic Management System for enhanced road safety. It also integrates seamlessly with the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway and Eastern Peripheral Expressway, strengthening India’s national highway network considerably.
A 32-km initial stretch had already opened to the public in December 2025.
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