High ridership tilts Metro extn work in favour of Vaishali route

In a preliminary report submitted to the Ghaziabad Development Authority, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said the estimated cost of extending the Vaishali Metro Line to Mohan Nagar would be around ₹1,808.22 crore.

The GDA received the report on Thursday. Earlier in November, the GDA and the DMRC had participated in a meeting in Lucknow where officials of the Uttar Pradesh government had asked GDA vice-chairperson to choose one of the two routes for extending the Metro line to Mohan Nagar. One of the options was to set up a Metro Line from Sector 62, Noida to Mohan Nagar, while the other option was to extend the DMRC’s Blue Line from Vaishali to Mohan Nagar.

GDA’s vice-chairperson Kanchan Verma then gave a final nod in the favour of extending the Blue Line from Vaishali to Mohan Nagar and had asked the DMRC to submit a detailed project report (DPR) on it.

The Vaishali route was chosen for its direct connectivity with Central Delhi, said officials adding that they expect better ridership on the route as well.

“The DPR is in the final stages of printing and is expected to be submitted in another three-four days. Meanwhile, the DMRC has submitted an outline of the project which puts the estimated cost of extending the Blue Line from Vaishali to Mohan Nagar at ₹1,808.22 crore. The preliminary report also proposes building three stations on an elevated section on the planned route,” VN Singh, authority’s chief engineer, said.

The three proposed stations will be built at Prahlad Garhi, Sector 14 in Vasundhara, and Sahibabad. The extended Blue Line will then meet the Mohan Nagar Metro station which is part of Metro’s Red Line that runs between Dilshad Garden and Shaheed Sthal (New Bus Adda).

“The DMRC has already refused its share towards the rolling stock. So, only the Uttar Pradesh government agencies and the Centre government will share the expenses involved in the project. We have already sent a request to the state government to provide funding for the project as GDA will not be able to fund it on its own. Once the DPR is submitted we will also hold discussions with DMRC over its share,” Singh added. The completion costs include capital expenditure of₹1,555 crore and taxes and duties worth ₹138.71 crore.

According to the preliminary report, the extension from Vaishali to Mohan Nagar would be 5.04-km long and will be elevated. The depot facilities for maintenance of trains would be set up either at Yamuna Bank or Najafgarh.

The Sahibabad station has been projected as the main station under the project where a small extension will also be created for the Sector 62 Line if it gets extended to Mohan Nagar via Sahibabad later on.

The Sahibabad Metro station will also act as an interchange hub as a station under the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) is also coming up in the vicinity. The GDA has already asked the DMRC to bring its proposed Metro station at Sahibabad closer to the RRTS station so that commuters can interchange between the two systems with the help of a skywalk or an open bridge.

In January, the DMRC had also proposed a 4.16-km long extension of the Blue Line from Vaishali to Sector 14 in Vasundhara at a cost of ₹1,438 crore. The proposal also included a 5.917-km long Metro link between Sector 62 and Mohan Nagar with six stations.

However, the GDA has put the Sector-62 to Mohan Nagar extension on hold. Officials said the project will be taken up in the future.

“In future, the Sector 62 Metro extension will merge at Sahibabad. Once, both the Vaishali and Sector 62 routes become fully operational in future, alternate trains from Mohan Nagar will move towards Sector 62( via Sahibabad) and Vaishali. So, there will be a single line between Sahibabad and Mohan Nagar, but the trains to the two respective routes will move alternatively from Sahibabad,” Singh added.