PM Modi to inaugurate metro's Red Line extension to Ghaziabad, services to begin from Saturday

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is Friday slated to inaugurate the 9.4-km-long Dilshad Garden-New Bus Adda section, an extension of the Delhi Metro's Red Line, which will open for passengers on Saturday.

With this new section, the Delhi Metro will foray into the interiors of Ghaziabad for the first time, touching the industrial areas in twin cities of Ghaziabad and Sahibabad. "Passenger services on the Red Line extension from Dilshad Garden to Shaheed Sthal (New Bus Adda) in Ghaziabad will start from 8 am on Saturday," DMRC's Executive Director for Corporate Communications Anuj Dayal said.

The stations on the stretch are Shahid Nagar, Raj Bagh, Rajendra Nagar, Shyam Park, Mohan Nagar, Arthala, Hindon River Station and New Bus Adda. This section will be 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 become 34.72 km.

"Trains will be available at a peak hour frequency of six minutes and twelve seconds on the Dilshad Garden New Bus Adda section. 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," Dayal said.

"All the station buildings have at least two TOM (Ticket Office Machine) counters with one counter located at a lower height for facility of differently-abled commuters," the DMRC said. This would be the second metro corridor in Ghaziabad, after the Blue Line, which links Delhi to the neighbouring city in Vaishali. The extension of Delhi Metro's Red Line will connect residents of Ghaziabad to with various parts of the National Capital Region (NCR).

"Currently, commuters have to rely on other modes of transport from Dilshad Garden to reach Sahibabad and further to Ghaziabad. Now with extension of metro, connectivity to Mohan Nagar from Dilshad Garden could also improve considerably," he told reporters during a preview of the new corridor. After the opening of this section, the Delhi Metro network will span 336.6 km with 244 metro stations. The DMRC's span in Uttar Pradesh would be 52.85 km.

-PTI