Greater Noida West residents seek DTC bus services to their sectors

They said the absence of public transport is not just a travel and connectivity issue, but also a reason for traffic congestion in the area because of increased usage of personal vehicles

Residents of Greater Noida West, formerly called Noida Extension, have written to the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) asking it to provide buses from different parts of Delhi to their area. Residents said the buses were required by thousands of daily commuters who don’t have access to any formal public transport option.

The letter addressed to the chief managing director of DTC mentions that DTC buses have routes till Noida and there is also a DTC terminal in Sector 62. It adds that the Charmurti Chowk or Gaur City Chowk is just five kilometres from the Sector 71 crossing in central Noida. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

They said the absence of public transport is not just a travel and connectivity issue, but also a reason for traffic congestion in the area because of increased usage of personal vehicles.

“There is no public transport in Greater Noida West and we don’t know when the proposed Metro will reach here. There was a bus service being conducted by Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) earlier, which connected the area with the Aqua Line. But that also stopped during the Covid years (2020-21) and was not restarted. Now we depend on private modes or informal modes like auto and cabs,” said Manish Kumar, a resident of Greater Noida West.

The letter addressed to the chief managing director of DTC mentions that DTC buses have routes till Noida and there is also a DTC terminal in Sector 62. It adds that the Charmurti Chowk or Gaur City Chowk is just five kilometres from the Sector 71 crossing in central Noida. However, there is no public transport option to that area. The Greater Noida West area is part of Gautam Budh Nagar district and is governed by the Greater Noida authority.

“Greater Noida West has multiple high-rise societies and townships and the population in that area has multiplied over the past few years. However, congestion has also increased and morning and evening peak hours see persistent traffic jams because people are entirely dependent on their personal vehicles. This area was planned with a high density of population but there was no planning for public transport at all,” said Dipankar Kumar, a resident of Panchsheel Farms 2 in Greater Noida West.

DTC officials said there are no plans as of now to start any new route to Greater Noida West. However, new routes may be considered if there is high demand.