Delhi metro's Ghaziabad, Noida extension sections open for public

The 6.6-km Noida City Centre-Noida Electronic City section, an extension of the Delhi Metro's Blue Line in the satellite city was opened for the public on Saturday, hours after it was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Services began at 4 pm today. The frequency of trains on this new section during peak hours would be 5 minutes and 26 seconds," a senior Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) official said.

Services also began on Saturday morning on the 9.63-km-long Dilshad Garden-Shaheed Sthal (New Bus Adda) section, an extension of the Delhi Metro's Red Line to Ghaziabad, a day after PM Modi flagged off the section, making the DMRC foray into the interiors of Ghaziabad for the first time.

This entirely-elevated section with eight stations, is an extension of the 25.09-km Rithala-Dilshad Garden corridor or Red Line, which has 21 stations. After opening of this section, the entire Red Line will have 29 stations.

"On the Red Line extension, services began at 8 am. Trains will be available at a peak hour frequency of six minutes and twelve seconds. A total of 35 six-coach trains will be used on the entire Rithala-New Bus Adda Red corridor. The total journey from Dilshad Garden to New Bus Adda will take about 16 minutes," Mr Dayal said.

Two of the eight stations on the Dilshad Garden-New Bus Adda section have been renamed in the honour of the country's fallen heroes.

The Rajendra Nagar Metro station has been rechristened as Major Mohit Sharma Rajendra Nagar station and the end station New Bus Adda has been renamed to Shaheed Sthal (New Bus Adda).

 The other six stations are - Shaheed Nagar, Raj Bagh, Shyam Park, Mohan Nagar, Arthala and Hindon River.

PM Modi flagged off the Blue Line extension section via a remote during an event held in Greater Noida on Saturday.

The Noida extension line will benefit the people of Noida and bring the Blue Line close to the recently-opened Aqua Line -- run by Noida Metro, which connects Noida and Greater Noida.

However, both lines have different travel cards at the moment, unlike the Rapid Metro in Gurgaon, wherein DMRC metro cards are valid for travel.

Plans are afoot to connect the two lines through a dedicated pathway and a carriage-way for e-rickshaws, officials said earlier.

-PTI