The sub-urban area of the Greater Noida West, earlier known as Noida Extension has become a hub for the affordable housing segment, attracting a lot of people. Over 3 lakh people are residing in the area, without the availability of proper public transport in the area. Although there was a proposed metro line, connecting Noida to Greno West, the central government rejected the DPR by the NMRC.
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What Was The Previous Route?
As per Noida Metro Rail Corporation, who operates the Aqua Line from Sector 51 to Depot in Greater Noida, the DPR that was approved by the Uttar Pradesh Govt connected Sector 51 Metro Station in Noida to Sector 2 in Greater Noida West in the Phase 1 of the project, having 5 stations in total.
In phase 2, there was a provision to build 4 more stations, on the 130 metre road. A budget of Rs 2200 crore was finalized by the Ministry of Finance, but the DPR was rejected by the Ministry of Urban Development.
Why Was The Route Cancelled?
As per the central govt, in the previous DPR, the new metro line was starting from the Sector 51 of Aqua Line. There’s no provision of connectivity between the Sector 51 station and Sector 51 station, which falls on the Blue Line of Delhi Metro, operated by DMRC.
While the NMRC and Noida Authority proposed to connect the Sector 51 and Sector 52 stations by a Bridge, with facilities like AC, Travelletors among other amenities, the ministry said that the distance of 450 metre between the two stations is too much for daily commuters.
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What’s The Solution?
The govt had asked NMRC to come up with alternatives to connect Aqua Line with Blue Line without much hassle. As per NMRC, the only solution is to connect the Sector 61 Metro Station of the Blue Line with a new station of Aqua Line. A common platform will be built to ease commuting.
The govt asked NMRC to work on this suggestion and submit a revised DPR. While the NMRC is in process of finalizing the revised DPR, initial details on the new route are already making the rounds of the internet.
Revised Noida Extension Metro Route
As per the revised DPR, the new route will start from Sector 61 in Noida, and connect Sector in Greater Noida West. The new route will be 2.5 kms long and an additional station will be built near Kailash Hospital in Sector 70. The Metro will then come to Sector 121 Parthala Chowk and continue as per the previous layout.
From Sector 121, the next station will be Gaur Chowk, which will be four storeys high, and then Ek Murti Chowk, followed by Sector 2. This will complete the Phase 1 of the Noida Extension Metro. Under the new DPR, the cost is expected to increase by at least Rs 500 crore.
Further, there will be multiple challenges to construct the new route. Firstly, the area around the Sector 61 Metro Station is very less to construct an additional platform. Further, there’s high tension wire passing in front of the Kailash Hospital.